Adam D. Roth, CCIM, SIOR, director of global logistics for NAI Hiffman, provided his outlook regarding transportation costs and capacity for 2012 during the Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference, which was held March 4-7 in Long Beach, California. Watch the video here:

Transportation Logistics Outlook 2012 – NAI Hiffman’s Adam Roth

Cheese Merchants of America LLC paid nearly $12.5 million, or $45 per square foot, for a distribution center at 1301-07 Schiferl Road in west suburban Bartlett. Cheese Merchants will use about two-thirds of the 277,088-square-foot structure, says Jeffrey Fischer of NAI Hiffman, who represented the company. Aerosol can maker Ball Corp. leases 106,670 feet in the building, which is in Brewster Creek Business Park, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc. The cheese maker plans to move from 248 Tubeway Drive in nearby Carol Stream, where it has about 85,000 square feet. The Schiferl Road building was developed by a joint venture of Capital Realty & Development LLC and Dallas-based Orix Real Estate Capital Inc. “Everybody would have liked to sell it for more, but at the end of the day, the market is what the market is,” says Richard Turasky, president of Elgin-based Capital
.

Package Containers Inc., a company that manufacturers paper bags, poly bags and wire tires for the supermarket, produce and merchandising industries, has leased a 22,320-square-foot space in the 98,811-square-foot 101 Corporate Center at 20W267 101^st St.  The company is relocating from their Burr Ridge facility and chose this location because of the easy access to I-55 and close proximity to I-294 and I-355.  They will also make use of the 2,400-square-foot office space, two interior docks, heavy power and ample parking area. Gerald Sullivan, principal of Paine/Wetzel/TCN Worldwide represented the landlord, Manulife Financial, in the transaction.  John Whitehead, associate of NAI Hiffman’s Industrial Service Group, represented the tenant.

Also within 101 Corporate Center, Phoenix Inks & Coatings has leased 17,033 square feet of space. The company, which focuses on refilling printer ink cartridges, printer ink supplies and commercial printing inks, is relocating from their Naperville location and chose the facility because of the I-55 access, two interior docks, 3,274 square feet of office space and 600 amps of provided power. Sullivan represented the landlord, Manulife Financial, in the transaction.  David Friedland, principal of Newmark Knight Frank, represented the tenant.

On March 14, the Association of Industrial Real Estate Brokers recognized Kelly Disser III, a senior associate with NAI Hiffman’s Industrial Services Group, with the Frank Mahoney Award of Excellence. The event was held at the Rosewood Restaurant in Rosemont, IL.

The organization, which is one of the largest real estate brokerage associations in the state, is comprised of more than 425 industry professionals who command more than 90 percent of all Illinois industrial brokerage transactions. The winner of this award is nominated by their peers, with a focus on their ability to not only excel in transaction volume, but serve their clients and the commercial real estate community.

Disser has been with NAI Hiffman since 2008, winning the “Fast Track” award for his contributions in his first year. In addition to his AIRE membership, Disser serves on the 2012 AIRE Program Committee and is a Certified Commercial Investment Member candidate.

NAI Hiffman is pleased to present its latest Metropolitan Chicago Market Review & 2012 Forecast detailing recent trends, significant transactions and the 2012 outlook for the Chicago Metropolitan office, industrial, retail and investment real estate markets. This year’s report totals 80 full-color pages featuring hundreds of graphs, dozens of tables, up-to-date data, and informative narratives on Chicago’s many real estate submarkets and the local economy. Click on the image to download the full report, or visit the Industrial or Office pages to download information about specific markets.

If you have any questions about the market or have any commercial real estate needs, please contact us by clicking the “Media Contact” link above or call 630 932 1234.

The annual Chicago Real Estate Awards met the challenge Thursday night of finding worthwhile projects to honor in a time of little commercial development.

Projects that won accolades for work in 2011 included the new North American home for the pharmaceutical company Astellas in Glenview, the $90 million Rivers Casino in Des Plaines and the renovation of the Presidential Towers complex in the West Loop.

The firm Bridge Developments Partners was named developer of the year for completing two projects in a tough economy: an office building in Lincolnshire and a two-building industrial complex in Woodridge.

The awards, the Oscars of local real estate, were announced at an annual dinner that raises money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Organizers said the event at the Hyatt Regency Chicago raised about $875,000.

The Astellas development was named build-to-suit project of the year. MB Real Estate and GlenStar Properties LLC handled the work.

Rivers Casino and partners Development Management Associates and Pepper Construction won for special achievement of the year. It covers 20 acres.

The Presidential Towers work by U.S. Equities Realty and Waterton Residential was named redevelopment of the year. The $22 million alteration to a retail concourse reoriented the stores’ entrances to the street and added a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

An award for innovative deal of the year went to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and Prime Group Realty Trust for lease negotiations that brought the American Medical Association to the landmark 330 N. Wabash building, formerly the IBM Plaza. AMA will take at least 275,000 square feet and the building will be renamed AMA Plaza.

The Sun-Times founded the awards, now in their 24th year. Current sponsors are Crain’s Chicago Business and Associated Bank. An industry panel picks nominees and winners are decided by a secret vote of the dinner’s ticket buyers.

Other awards went to:

Industrial broker of the year: Daniel Leahy of NAI Hiffman.

Interior contractor of the year: Leopardo Cos. Inc.

Interior design firm of the year: Partners by Design Inc.

Investment sales broker of the year: Nooshin Felsenthal, Bruce Miller, Jim Postweiler and Jascint Vukelich of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Mortgage broker of the year: David Knapp, Chang Lee, Stephen Livaditis and Michael Pagliari of Eastdil Secured LLC.

Office broker of the year: Joe Learner and Robert Sevim of Studley Inc.

Office property representative of the year: Mark Baby, Jack McKinney Jr., Matt Pistorio and Brian Whiting of J.F. McKinney & Associates Ltd.

Project manager of the year: MB Real Estate.

Property management company of the year: CBRE Inc.

Retail broker of the year: Joseph Parrott and Jim Sakanich, CB Richard Ellis.

Check-cashing chain PLS Financial Services Inc. leased just under 47,000 square feet for a call center in west suburban Oak Brook. Chicago-based PLS signed a long-term deal for the space at 800 Jorie Blvd., part of a two-building complex controlled by a lender. The center should open by August, says Ken Crane, PLS’ vice president-real estate, who says it’s a consolidation of satellite locations and represents an expansion. With the deal, 800-810 Jorie, which totals about 194,000 square feet, is about 70 percent leased, according to figures provided by Jim Adler, an executive vice president at NAI Hiffman, which leases and manages the property. Mark Kolar of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented PLS, which has locations in nine states and has more than 3,000 employees, according to its website.

(Crain’s) — A Colorado real estate firm that’s taken several blows here during the downturn faces foreclosure in the cutthroat Schaumburg office market, this time on a half-empty building down the road from Woodfield Mall.

A venture of Lakewood, Colo.-based Alliance Commercial Partners was hit this month with a $15.7-million foreclosure suit from Bank of America N.A. after failing to pay off a loan on One Woodfield Lake, a 204,885-square-foot property at 1000 E. Woodfield Road, according to the complaint. The loan matured in January 2011, according to the suit, filed Feb. 14 in Cook County Circuit Court.

The case underscores the difficulty many landlords face as they try to refinance properties acquired at the top of the market. The Alliance venture paid nearly $14.4 million for One Woodfield Lake in 2006, financing the deal with a $15.8 million mortgage from LaSalle Bank, county records show. Office values plunged during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 and generally remain depressed.

“You had very aggressive lenders out there and essentially they financed or leveraged income that never was there,” says Art Burrows, senior vice president in the Chicago office of real estate firm NAI Hiffman. “They were underwriting occupancy that didn’t exist that they assumed would happen . . . that’s really what crushed everybody out here.”

A spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, which acquired LaSalle Bank in 2007, declines to comment. An Alliance executive and leasing agent for the building did not return messages seeking comment.

One Woodfield Lake is just 51.3 percent occupied, down from 82.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc. The largest current tenant is a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc., which occupies 60,000 square feet, according to CoStar. Flexera Software Inc. leases nearly 52,000 square feet in the building, CoStar says.

Alliance is no stranger to loan troubles here, surrendering three suburban office buildings to lenders since 2009. An Alliance venture also defaulted last year on a $21.3 million mortgage on the Washington Commons office complex in Naperville, though a loan modification is being negotiated, according to a loan report compiled by Bloomberg L.P.

The foreclosure suit highlights the perils of owning office property in the Schaumburg area, which is awash in space, pushing several large buildings into foreclosure since the crash. Jack Reardon, a leasing broker and senior vice-president at NAI Hifman, does not see an office recovery in the northwest suburbs anytime soon.

“We need to hopefully find another growing industry, and somebody who is going to come out there and take some large chunks,” he says. “At a minimum, (it will take) four-plus years to get to what people would consider a stabilized market.

NAI Hiffman promoted Adam D. Roth, CCIM, SIOR to executive vice president from senior vice president.

Roth is a director with the NAI Global Logistics Group and a member of NAI Global Corporate Solutions. As part of NAI’s industrial services group for more than seven years, he has aided in real estate and supply chain solutions for warehouse and distribution companies. Roth’s expertise is in land assemblage and development, corporate relocation and site search analysis.

He has assisted clients such as Wal-Mart, Devicor Medical, USAA Realty, Mirvac Industrial Trust, Liberty Property Trust and ProLogis.

Roth worked in logistics for almost 10 years before joining NAI more than seven years ago. He has acted as keynote speaker and expert witness for several organizations including the Will County Center for Economic Development, DePaul University, the University of St. Francis and the State of Illinois. Roth has been published in numerous real estate periodicals with a focus on logistics.

The Redevelopment Commission for the City of Valparaiso acquired the former Northcoast Distributors building at 705 Silhavy Rd. in Valparaiso, IN from Leetz Properties for $4 million, or about $33 per square foot.

The single-story, 123,000-square-foot industrial building was built in 1993 on 9.1 acres in the Porter County Industrial submarket.

Northcoast is currently building a new headquarters to total 215,630 square feet in Valparaiso. Expected completion of the new site is March 2012, which is when the company will move out of its current building, which it’s currently leasing from the city. Northcoast is staying in Valparaiso in part due to City tax abatement incentives.

Chris Gary from NAI Hiffman represented the seller.