Chicago Cheat Sheet: Rental townhomes making a comeback … & more

Townhouse rentals making a comeback

Chicago’s long-running apartment construction boom has spawned a boomlet: townhouses built expressly as rentals. While townhouses are nothing new, developers haven’t often built them as rentals. But now there are four townhouse-for-rent projects underway or recently completed, in the Gold Coast, the South Loop and River West. [Crain’s]

Chicago a top home-swapping destination

Chicago is a popular place for home exchanges, in which travelers swap apartments. GuestToGuest, which recently acquired popular site HomeExchange, currently lists 435 available homes in Illinois. A spokesperson said three times more people are willing to visit Chicago than the number of listings they have available. [Chicago Tribune]

Two foreign companies ink leases on suburban properties

Zurich, Switzerland-based manufacturer Bystronic is taking 163,000 square feet in Hoffman Estates and Germany-based Faber-Castell Cosmetics is opening a 73,000-square-foot facility in Elgin. Jeff Janda and Mike Plumb of Lee & Associates brokered both deals. [Daily Herald]

Late “Frasier” actor’s Oak Park condo hits the market

A three-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot condominium unit in Oak Park that actor John Mahoney owned until his death in February is listed for $375,000. Mahoney lived for decades in Oak Park, including long before his turn as Martin Crane in the popular sitcom “Frasier.” [Chicago Tribune]

Archdiocese looking for buyer for historic Pilsen church property

The Archdiocese of Chicago hired the Cawthon-Labriola Group of SVN Chicago Commercial to market the historic St. Adalbert Church complex in Pilsen. The 2.1-acre site has four main structures — the church building, the convent, the rectory and the school — with a combined 100K square feet. [Bisnow] 

Another Sears store closing

The Sears department store at Golf Mill in Niles will close starting in December. The company during the summer announced plans to close 72 stores, including Sears at Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills, Fox Valley Center in Aurora and Gurnee Mills. A Sears store reopened this week at Oakbrook Center, occupying just the lower level and one-third of the footprint of the former store and focusing on specific goods, including shoes, apparel, appliances, tools, mattresses, sporting goods, grills and lawn and garden items. [Daily Herald]