Four critical moving parts made for a challenging lease assumption: a tenant needing out, a new tenant requiring security, a property owner concerned about cash flow, and a broker team to navigate it all.
In the end, Hilliker Corporation worked with the tenant, healthcare packaging firm Nutra-Med Packaging, to develop a workable strategy that met each player's needs. The deal has been recognized as a 2026 CoStar Impact Award winner, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Nutra-Med needed to exit its long-term industrial lease at 13333 Lakefront Drive in Earth City, Missouri, outside St. Louis, and locate a space better suited to its operations. With nine years left in the lease term, brokers believed traditional subleasing options would threaten credit, add prolonged vacancy and create liability exposure. Nutra-Med brought a new, promising tenant to the table.
Hilliker Corporation handled negotiations between the new high-credit tenant, Cardinal Health, and Nutra-Med and the landlord for a full-lease assumption with one-time concessions. Cardinal Health is a Fortune 100 healthcare services company whose needs and operations aligned well with the lease and building.
About the project: In the end, the landlord, Royal Oak, benefited from transitioning to a tenant with strong credit and long-term stability.
What the judges said: "Hilliker worked diligently to navigate a highly unusual and challenging situation, leveraging deep resources and forward-thinking strategy to drive a deliberate and successful outcome," said Alex Zvibleman of SVN Infinity Commercial Group.
Zach Williams of Lawyers Realty described the lease as "impactful on the community, and an elaborate deal that took a lot of CREW knowledge to get completed."
They made it happen: Powell Kalish and Hal Ball of Hilliker Corp. represented Nutra-Med. Nutra-Med was also supported by Ryan Conner and Michael Rabinowitz with Tactix Real Estate Advisors, LLC.
CoStar Market Manager Douglas Scott-Meagher contributed to this report.
This article was updated on March 31 to clarify that Hilliker represented Nutra-Med, not the landlord; that Nutra-Med brought Cardinal to the table and initiated negotiations for Cardinal to assume its lease; and that Nutra-Med was also supported by Tactix brokers Ryan Conner and Michael Rabinowitz.