Chicago Real Estate & Homes for Sale

Condo market thumps 2 South Loop tower plans
(Crain’s) — The calamitous condominium market has toppled plans for two ambitious high-rises proposed by developer Warren Barr for South Michigan Avenue. Mr. Barr last week sold the site at 830 S. Michigan Ave. for $17.55 million, about $1 million less than he owed his lenders on the project, ...
Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:37:00 -0500

Oak Street to get new high-fashion store
(Crain’s) — Milan fashion house Piazza Sempione is joining the long list of high-end designers on Oak Street. The 17-year-old Italian company has signed a lease to open its first Chicago store at 34 E. Oak St. next spring, replacing boutique Sugar Magnolia, according to people familiar with ...
Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:23:00 -0500

Foreclosure suit hits big planned Northbrook project
(Crain’s) — A South Dakota bank has filed a foreclosure lawsuit for about $27 million on a proposed development in Northbrook to be anchored by a Hyatt Place hotel that would have been the northern suburb’s largest development in more than 30 years. Sioux Falls, S.D.-based BankFirst alleges ...
Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:21:00 -0500

Hotel space for sale in Aqua
(Crain’s) — The developer of the 81-story Aqua tower is seeking a new buyer for a planned 225-plus room hotel in the downtown high-rise, about two months after the original buyer, Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., dropped out. Magellan Development Group LLC has hired the Chicago office of CB ...
Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:20:00 -0500

Marketing firm moving to former Ward catalog building
(Crain’s) — Design and marketing firm VSA Partners Inc. is moving its headquarters to 600 W. Chicago Ave. from the South Loop. The firm, which got its big break in the late ’80s designing annual reports for the Chicago Board of Trade and Harley-Davidson Inc., has leased 40,000 square feet ...
Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:18:00 -0500

In brief: River West lease | Famous Dave's | Equity Residential stake
Non-profit moving offices to River West The Children’s Place Assn., which provides care and social services to children and families affected by HIV and AIDS, has signed a five-year lease to relocate its offices to River West. The non-profit group has leased 6,727 square feet — the fifth floor ...
Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:18:00 -0500

Like Trump, other developers may sue lenders
(Crain’s) — Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the menagerie of construction lenders for his riverfront tower is likely to be followed by more pre-emptive strikes by other developers. Amid the prolonged credit crisis, such lawsuits could become common. “Almost every lending institution ...
Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:16:00 -0500

Retail vacancy rate hits 5-year high
(Crain's) – The vacancy rate for retail space in the Chicago area jumped to a five-year high and is poised to climb further as retailers brace for what’s expected to be a most un-merry Christmas. The retail vacancy rate rose to 9.1% in the third quarter from 8.7% in the second quarter, ...
Posted: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:36:00 -0500

Inland American to take over Bloomingdale mall
(Crain’s) — Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. is taking over Stratford Square Mall in west suburban Bloomingdale as compensation for a soured investment in the mall’s owner, Feldman Mall Properties Inc. Great Neck, N.Y.-based Feldman has agreed to hand over Stratford Square, one of ...
Posted: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:15:00 -0500

Chicago-area home sales slide 22% in Q3
(Crain’s) — Home sales in the Chicago area dropped 22.1% during the third quarter, compared to the third quarter, 2007 according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors. In the third quarter, a total of 20,449 single-family homes and condominiums were sold in the nine-county Chicago region, ...
Posted: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:00:00 -0500

Strategic Hotels adopts 'poison pill' strategy
(AP) — Hotel real estate investment trust Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. said Monday its board approved a one-year "poison pill" due to the toll that current economic conditions are taking on the sector. The lodging industry has been squeezed as consumers curb spending due to the ongoing ...
Posted: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:59:00 -0500

In brief: Food 4 Less | Deerfield Capital | Equity Int'l
Grocer leases former Cub Foods on South Side Discount grocer Food 4 Less is tentatively slated to open a store early next year in a former Cub Foods location at the Chatham Ridge Shopping Center, 87th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway. Food 4 Less signed a lease in August, an executive with the ...
Posted: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:31:00 -0500