Sitting pretty: New Era Chicago affiliate buys West Loop mixed-use property in prime spot

The building on South Racine is in middle of major residential development

324 South Racine Avenue and New Era's Michael Hagenson (Credit: Google Maps)
324 South Racine Avenue and New Era's Michael Hagenson (Credit: Google Maps)

An affiliate of New Era Chicago has acquired a mixed-use building in the West Loop, a location that is just around the corner from a massive new residential developments.

The affiliate acquired the 14,000-square-foot building at 324 South Racine Avenue, which has a ground-floor restaurant and seven apartments on its upper floors. Mike Hagenson, partner at New Era Chicago and investor in the Racine property, said he had two other partners. He would not name them. The firm paid $2.55 million.

The property’s longtime owner, Charles Scala, was the seller, sources said.

The new owners don’t have any immediate plans to redevelop the site. The deal was brokered by Steven Rapaport of Chicago Real Estate Resources Inc.

The four-story building is located in the booming West Loop, and is around the corner from some high-profile developments. Hagenson said the investors targeted the property for acquisition because of its location.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

“There’s a lot of development literally right around the block,” he said. “Long-term, it’s a really solid location and it’s getting better.”

About a half block from New Era’s building, Chicago-based Tandem is developing two residential towers totaling 401 units. The project received initial approval from the city in November.

Just south of the Racine property is the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is planning to spend more than $1 billion to construct nine buildings on campus over the next decade.

Last month, the John Buck Company and Lendlease began work on a 590-unit residential complex nearby.

The West Loop recently leapfrogged River North to become the most expensive ZIP code in the Midwest, and it also has the highest concentration of millennials of any ZIP code in the country’s 30 largest cities.