A Hines real estate investment trust has agreed to pay about $70 million for a shopping center on Chicago’s North Side. That's a steep discount to the price that DWS Group paid for it more than a decade ago, as the German investor adds to its selloff of U.S. properties.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Hines Global Income Trust said it struck a deal in April to buy Wicker Park Commons in a deal expected to be completed this month.
The nontraded public REIT is part of Houston-based development and real estate investment giant Hines, which has a large portfolio of properties in Chicago.
The shopping center last sold in August 2015 for $94.75 million.
The property is anchored by a Lowe’s home improvement store and a Jewel-Osco grocery store. It runs along the high-traffic intersection of Ashland and Milwaukee avenues.
DWS, whose largest shareholder is Deutsche Bank, has been selling off properties throughout the country as it pivots away from sectors such as office buildings.
Then known as Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, the German firm bought the property not long after the previous owner landed a deal with Lowe’s to lease a former Kmart space.
The long-term deal significantly boosted the value of the property. The sale happened as the Lowe's space was under construction.
That lease was for 15 years, with Lowe’s having six options for five-year extensions, according to Cook County property records. Lowe’s leases 89,829 square feet in the nearly 218,000-square-foot center, according to CoStar data.
Hines declined to comment beyond the public filing. DWS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
The pending acquisition is the second large deal in Chicago in recent months by Hines Global Income Trust, which late last year paid $151 million for the 451-unit Left Bank apartment tower at 300 N. Canal St.
The sale will add to a run of dispositions across the country by DWS.
In an interview with The Real Deal last August, DWS’ head of real estate for the Americas, Todd Henderson, said the firm was reducing its risk in office investments while increasing its focus on sectors such as multifamily and industrial.
In 2025 and early 2026, DWS has sold several full or partial stakes in several markets. That includes two each in San Francisco and South Florida and one in Washington, D.C.
Last year, DWS and a local developer sold two Chicago apartment buildings, at 123 N. Desplaines St. and 180 N. Ada St., for almost $184 million combined.
CoStar News reporter Mark Heschmeyer contributed.