Good time to be a multifamily investor in Chicago: report
Chicago’s rental market is one of the strongest in the nation, according to a 2018 Chicagoland State of the Multifamily Market report from Cushman & Wakefield. By year’s end, absorption topped 4,200 units on 3,600 new deliveries, the report said, giving the market a chance to catch up with the surge in new inventory from 2016 and 2017. Chicago’s Downtown ranks only behind New York for the number of apartment unit deliveries this cycle, but it still maintained strong occupancy numbers, the report said. [REJournals]
Glen Ellyn official quits in protest over development incentives
Glen Ellyn approved $1.4 million incentives for a controversial apartment project in the suburb’s downtown, prompting a village official to resign in protest. The village board voted to give GSP Development the incentives for the $39 million Apex 400 complex, a five-story, 107-unit building planned for the site of the former Giesche shoe store and a village-owned parking lot. But Trustee Mark Senak resigned from the board in the middle of the meeting rather than vote for the deal. [Daily Herald]
Growth in home sales maintains slow but consistent pace
Single-family values in the Chicago area grew by 3.1 percent in November year over year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. It was the ninth consecutive month when the local figure was at or around 3 percent. Sales were up 5.2 percent nationwide in November year over year. Chicago has been at or near the bottom of the list of the 20 cities tracked by Case-Shiller for 21 months. [Crain’s]
Cappleman rethinking new rules for developments along bus routes
Alderman James Cappleman (46th) wants the city to reconsider a plan to expand transit-oriented development rules to include bus routes along Lake Shore Drive. Cappleman voted in favor of the recent change, which will allow developers to provide less parking and more density in projects along eight high-ridership bus routes. But now he wants two of the routes removed after hearing opposition from some Lakeview residents. [Curbed]
Chicago area getting a Wahlburgers …
The Chicago-area’s first Wahlburgers restaurant is set to open in River North in March, the company said. The restaurant at 2 East Ontario Street originally was supposed to be open by the end of last year. The Boston-based chain from the family of actor Mark Wahlberg and singer-actor Donnie Wahlberg has local ties: Donnie is married to Chicago-native, actress and model Jenny McCarthy. [Eater]
… and losing a Hackney’s
The owners of the Glenview-based restaurant chain Hackney’s are closing their location in south suburban Palos Park after 33 years. Owner Mike Masterson said on Facebook the combination of maintenance issues on the building and his impending retirement led to the decision. Two Hackney’s remain in Glenview, including the original location that Masterson’s parents opened in 1939. [Daily Southtown]
Retail vacancy holds steady
The Chicago-area retail vacancy rate was 11.1 percent at the end of 2018, unchanged from the third quarter, according to CBRE. The ability of landlords to hold vacancies in check despite a wave of store closings and growing e-commerce is a sign of hope for the market, CBRE officials said. Fitness chains, experiential retailers, discount chains and other diverse tenants are helping fill space vacated by other traditional retail clients in recent years, they said. [Crain’s]
Structured moving forward with Orland Park development plans
Structured Development plans to go before Orland Park residents to talk about plans to develop about 9 acres of village-owned land in the village’s Main Street Triangle, northwest of LaGrange Road and 143rd Street. A company official said Chicago-based Structured envisions a mix of retail, office space, restaurants and possibly townhomes on the property. Local officials have said they want both commercial and residential uses. [Daily Southtown]
Somerset sticking with the Bell Works name for old AT&T complex
Somerset Development said it plans to call its massive overhaul of the former AT&T corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates “Bell Works,” the same name it gave to its redevelopment of a sprawling Bell Labs building in Holmdel, New Jersey. Somerset Development President Ralph Zucker said the Bell Works name “has become a brand, it’s become a lifestyle, a way of life.” The project had been known informally as “City Works” as recently as Monday, when the village board approved Somerset’s vision for a mix of multifamily housing, offices, retail space, restaurants, conference facilities and a hotel. [Daily Herald]