Baker Development hopes to cash in on Lincoln Yards buzz

The Chicago firm is hoping to get $100M for the 187K-sf complex

Elston Avenue retail complex and Baker Development President Warren Baker
Elston Avenue retail complex and Baker Development President Warren Baker

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.

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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