A few months after buying the retail portion of the iconic Tribune Tower, a Chicago investor has added a three-property portfolio in a North Side corridor where there are no vacant spaces.
North American Real Estate last week bought three single-tenant buildings on Southport Avenue, principal Savas Er told CoStar News.
The buildings are at 3337, 3358 and 3435 N. Southport Ave. in the Lakeview neighborhood, a few blocks southwest of Wrigley Field.
Southport Avenue is one of the key retail corridors on the city’s North Side, with zero vacant spaces in the past two years in the area between Addison and Roscoe streets each of the past two years, according to an annual survey from Stone Real Estate.
Er declined to disclose the price for the Southport Avenue properties, which could not yet be found in online property records. The seller was another Chicago firm: Newcastle Investors.
The 8,692-square-foot building at 3435 N. Southport is leased to Capital One Cafe; the 8,200-square-foot structure at 3358 N. Southport is leased to local restaurant Tuco & Blondie; and the 3,350-square-foot property at 3337 N. Southport is leased by Indira Salon & Spa, according to a brochure from Mid-America Real Estate, which represented the seller.
North American Real Estate earlier this year also bought the fully leased, multitenant Point at Clark property in Lakeview.
Er said the deals come as landlords are seeing increased demand from retailers, even in areas such as the Magnificent Mile that have struggled in previous years. That was driven home in meetings with tenants in last week’s International Council of Shopping Centers meeting in New York, Er said.
“We know that tenants are very excited to be on Southport,” Er said. “Every retailer that we sat down with at ICSC, national and international high-street tenants, they were all excited about Chicago again.”
Newcastle did not respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
The firm bought the Southport properties for a combined $9 million in separate deals in 2004, 2005 and 2015, according to CoStar data.
Newcastle has been selling off properties in recent years, including a recent $39 million sale of retail properties at 1120 and 1130 N. State St. in the Gold Coast that buyer Convexity Properties is expected to redevelop with a residential tower and new retail.
Last year, Newcastle sold adjacent apartment buildings in Rogers Park on the city’s far North Side for almost $17 million.
For the record
The seller was represented by Mid-America Real Estate brokers Joe Girardi, Emily Gadomski and Patrick Corrigan.