Baker Development is hoping to cash in on the buzz surrounding the Lincoln Yards megadevelopment on the North Side with the sale of a Bucktown retail complex.
The Chicago firm is hoping to get some $100 million for the 187,000-square-foot Elston Retail Collection on Elston Avenue between Armitage and Webster, according to Crain’s.
The complex sits just west of the site of Sterling Bay’s 55-acre project and is anchored by Best Buy and Kohl’s.
HFF’s Amy Sands and Clinton Mitchell are marketing the property, and they’re pitching it not only as a retail pickup with solid tenants but also as a possible redevelopment opportunity along the Kennedy Expressway.
Kohl’s lease runs until 2030 with rent increases every five years, while Best Buy’s lease expires in 2026, according to a Bloomberg loan report cited by Crain’s. The property generated $6 million in net operating income last year, according to the report.
Baker bought the 11-acre site in 2004 and developed the retail properties by 2006, taking out a $66.8 million mortgage in 2012 when the property was appraised at $89.1 million.
Baker already is cashing in on the development boom along the North Branch of the Chicago River with its the 2017 North Mendell office project in the Lincoln Yards footprint. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien