Blackstone has sold a shopping center alongside the largest mall in the Chicago area for $69 million, a fraction of the price the private-equity giant paid more than a decade ago.
Earlier this month, Hutensky Capital Partners bought the Streets of Woodfield in Schaumburg, Illinois, from Blackstone’s Perform Properties, according to Cook County property records and CoStar data.
The sale price represents a huge loss from the $168.5 million that Blackstone paid amid soaring property values in March 2015.
The 692,592-square-foot mall at 601 N. Martingale Road is in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. It is adjacent to Woodfield Mall, the largest in Illinois.
Blackstone’s heavily discounted sale is the latest sign of how retail property investors, including some of the biggest, have struggled to overcome factors such as the lingering effects of COVID-19, retailer bankruptcies and pullbacks, higher borrowing costs and changing shopping habits.
The largest tenant in the Schaumburg property is Dick’s Sporting Goods, which leases 173,793 square feet, according to CoStar data. Other major tenants include Whole Foods Market, AMC, Dave & Buster’s and Legoland Discovery Center.
The deal, first reported by The Real Deal Chicago, comes about four years after Blackstone previously explored a sale.
Hartford, Connecticut-based Hutensky Capital sees its investment as “a wonderful opportunity to build on an exceptionally strong tenant lineup,” founder and CEO Brad Hutensky said in an email to CoStar News.
Closures at the Streets of Woodfield during Blackstone’s holding period included a Carson’s department store that later was filled with an RH home furnishings outlet store.
Hutensky said his firm is preparing to fill excess space in the RH unit and find a new tenant for a soon-to-close Crate & Barrel store.
“Our buying group is well-capitalized and is prepared to make the necessary investment to help this property to reach its full potential,” Hutensky said. “We look forward to working with the village of Schaumburg to create a shopping, entertainment and dining destination worthy of this exceptional location.”
In late 2024, Hutensky Capital paid almost $104 million combined to buy the Bloomingdale Court and Lake View Plaza shopping centers in suburban Chicago from Washington Prime Group. Its investment partner in those deals and at the Streets of Woodfield is California-based PCCP.
Blackstone’s purchase of the Streets of Woodfield nearly 11 years ago was backed by a $89.1 million loan from Deutsche Bank that was paid off in 2020, property records show.
The sale was part of an ongoing Blackstone pivot away from some sectors such as retail and offices in recent years.
“This is a rare instance in our over $600 billion portfolio comprising nearly 13,000 assets,” a Blackstone spokesperson said in a statement to CoStar News. “We aim to invest in sectors with strong fundamentals propelled by macro demand trends, which is why nearly 75% of the real estate we own is in sectors like logistics, rental housing and data centers.”
While mostly pulling back in retail, Blackstone in recent years has added retail properties on Rue St.-Honore in Paris and New Bond Street in London and in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.