Scrapped luxury condo makes way for boutique hotel, Fulton Market building notches i-sales record: Daily digest

A daily round up of Chicago real estate news, deals and more for September 18, 2019.

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Chicago’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com.

 

Sonder CEO Francis Davidson and some of the properties

Sonder CEO Francis Davidson and some of the properties

LG Development has scrapped a luxury condo project, and in its place will be a boutique hotel. The proposed project would be a five-story, 29-suite hotel in River North to be operated by Airbnb rival Sonder. The spot has sat vacant since 2016. [TRD]

 

The most expensive office building sale in Chicago history just went to a seven-story office building at 811 W. Fulton Market. The 70,000-square-foot building sold for $50.3 million, a rate of $775 per square foot. The previous record was $734 per square foot. [Crain’s]

 

Oak Brook’s TradeLane Properties purchased a former General Motors facility in Broadview for $14.07 million. Mark and Michael Nelson, the founders of Chicago’s former NelsonHill brokerage, turned a $1.4 million profit after holding the 17-acre Broadview property for only one year. [TRD]

 

Dallas-based Trammel Crow has pitched a 16-story office building at 400 N. Aberdeen St., an industrial space that would aim to push Fulton Market’s popularity north. The former meatpacking district has seen soaring demand for office space as Fulton Market space fills up. Trammel Crow broke ground on a 14-story office building at 1375 W. Fulton Market on the western edge of the district last year. [Crain’s]

 

Alderman Harry Osterman (48th) toured Woodlawn to consider activists’ Community Benefits Agreement proposal. The agreement would create and preserve affordable housing as the Obama Center moves into Woodlawn. Activists failed in their lawsuit against the development earlier this week. [Block Club]

 

A trillionaire, prime minister of Israel and president of the world. Those are all the things WeWork founder and CEO Adam Neumann has said he wants to be, according to a new profile of a leader who is struggling to take his company public. [WSJ]

 

From left: Compass’ Jason Post, CEO Robert Reffkin, and COO Maelle Gavet (Credit: Wharton UPenn)

Compass’ top communications executive is out. Jason Post, who joined the brokerage nine months ago, will depart as the company mulls plans for an IPO. Post previously worked for Uber and the Bloomberg administration. [TRD]

 

Tom Barrack has buyers remorse. Three years after his firm Colony Capital merged with NorthStar Realty Finance Corp, the renowned CEO and Trump pal is seeking to offload almost $20 billion in real estate assets, as he plans for an entry into digital infrastructure. [WSJ]

 

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U.S. homebuilding reached a record high. Last month, housing starts surged 12.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.364 million units, the highest number since June 2007 — a sign that lower mortgage rates are boosting the crippled housing market. [Reuters]

 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (Credit: Wikipedia)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (Credit: Wikipedia)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed restrictions on weed dispensaries downtown. About 23 dispensaries will be allowed in Chicago beginning Jan. 1, but the ordinance would make it more difficult to secure real estate in well-trafficked locations. [Crain’s]

 

Chicago is getting a plant-themed pop-up hotel. The Kimpton Gray will transform 10 guest rooms into mini-conservatories with prehistoric and desert themes. The rooms come with aloe face masks, green juice and tickets to a plant-themed fashion show. [Chicago Tribune]

 

Activists will continue their fight after losing appeal against tax increment financing incentives awarded to Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards megaproject. The Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education said they will pursue other legal and legislative options to stop what they call the abuse of the TIF program. The controversy began when Sterling Bay received a $1.3 billion in TIF subsidy for the area, which is no longer considered blighted. [Curbed]

 

New York-based Drive Shack plans to open a Bucktown driving range along the Chicago River. The 9.3-acre location would offer food, drinks and entertainment like the now popular axe throwing. On the former site of the Vienna Beef hot dog factory, the range would rival suburban Topgolf locations. [Crain’s]

 

Despite a fight from the Arlington Heights Historical Museum, a rare Lustron Corporation-built home was demolished. Built for returning soldiers after World War II, 846 N. Dunton Ave. may have been the last of its kind in Arlington Heights. The building was deteriorating and will be replaced with a two-story home. [Daily Herald]

 

WeWork’s junk bonds plummeted 7.3 cents on the dollar Tuesday. The trading signaled to the office-space giant that it would have to look elsewhere to raise more debt, as investors remain wary of its delayed IPO. Its $669 million in bonds are due 2025. [Bloomberg]

 

Rodrigo Niño (Credit: Prodigy Network and iStock)

Prodigy’s CEO is stepping down. The embattled real estate crowdfunding platform is facing three lawsuits from an investor and employees who allege the firm is insolvent and claim that they remain unpaid as investment properties underperform. [TRD]

 

It’s no Trump Tower, but it’s been Trump-occupied. The president’s childhood home in Queens, N.Y., is on the auction block after it failed to sell earlier this year for $2.9 million. It was purchased in 2017 for $2.14 million. The auction will conclude November 14. [NYT]