“Chicago-style homes” are new ICE training grounds, alderman puts kibosh on deconversion of landmark building: Daily digest

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Updated at 5:00 p.m.

For its “new urban warfare” training, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will run drills in so-called Chicago-style homes. The training facility is in Fort Benning, Georgia. The homes will be outfitted for “combat conditions” and will cost $355,000 each. [TRD]

The former CEO of now defunct InterFirst Mortgage acquired and demolished a $2.15 million mansion next to his larger, $12 million mansion in Winnetka. The move restored the property to its original design. The former CEO, Dmitry Godin, shuttered his lending company in 2017 amid declining business. [Chicago Tribune]

Alderman Brian Hopkins has blocked a deconversion attempt. Hopkins rejected the effort to turn a Streeterville city landmark building into an extended-stay hotel. The move would have required a zoning change for the Harry Weese-designed building at 227 E. Walton Street. [Block Club]

A hulking Illinois Medical District building with major redevelopment potential sold for $28 million. The purchase comes as the building’s neighbor, the old Cook County Hospital, undergoes a $1 billion multi-use redevelopment project. [TRD]

A 111-unit mixed-income development has opened in Rogers Park. The seven-story development will accept 65 low-income residents on the Chicago Housing Authority wait list. The CHA partnered with Three Corners Development and others on the venture, which includes a co-working space and large retail component. [ReBusiness]

Rating agencies have had doubts about WeWork for years. In an analysis of two dozen CMBS ratings reports for properties across the country, TRD found that those rating agencies have increasingly viewed WeWork, and co-working tenants in general, as a negative in their risk assessments. Meanwhile, landlords largely continued to focus on the company’s positives in public statements. [TRD]

CBRE group subsidiary Hana has opened three co-working locations in London. The locations will host 500 CBRE employees. Hana will partner with Nuveen Real Estate at one flexible working location, LGIM Real Assets at another and Oxford Properties at their third location. [Press release]

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) and Zichael Zalewski (23rd) fronted six tax breaks for now-indicted Ald. Burke’s law firm, Klafter & Burke. The move circumvented conflict-of-interest rules and saved millions for the Southwest Side alderman’s clients, a Better Government Association investigation found. Burke, the longest-serving alderman in Chicago’s history, is accused of racketeering and bribery to promote his firm. [Sun-Times]

Avision Young found that half of Q2 industrial leases were in Lake County, the US-64 Corridor, and the I-55 Corridor. Leasing was up 20 percent reaching 8.67 million square feet. More than 60 percent of sales in the O’Hare submarket, ranking highest in sales volume and price, were investor transactions. [Daily Herald]

Sterling Bay and Wheelock Street Capital refinanced the Hyatt House Fulton Market, borrowing $61 million from Argentic Real Estate Investments to pay off the construction loan. JLL arranged the loan on 105 N. May Street. The 200-room branded hotel is the only extended-stay hotel in Fulton Market. [ReJournals]

For the seventh year in a row, Chicago ranked as North America’s No. 1 location for foreign direct investment. Mayor Lightfoot announced yesterday that Chicago receives more than $140 billion from over 1,800 foreign investors. The official report by IBM will be released in late September. [Globe St.]

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has chronically underestimated the number of students added to a district with each new development — recently, by 73 to 81 percent. The miscalculation means the city misses out on fees they could charge to developers, so the city has commissioned a $43,500 study to improve predictions. [Daily Herald]

WeWork forges ahead with its IPO after making significant governance changes. In a revised S-1 filing, CEO Adam Neumann reduced his high-stock vote from 20 to 10 votes, and agreed to relinquish his profit on any real estate deals he enters into with the company. The updated prospectus also assures investors that any subsequent CEO will be chosen by the board; previously, Adam Neumann’s wife Rebekah Neumann played a key role in the decision. The We Company plans to go public the week Sept. 23. [WSJ, Bloomberg]

Natixis’ head of real estate finance Greg Murphy is leaving the bank. Murphy oversaw an increase in originations from $3.5 billion in 2016 to about $7.5 billion in 2017 and 2018, but will return to his native Texas to retire. As to who will replace him: Murphy said the “deep bench” of senior people includes Jerry Tang, Michael Magner, Andy Taylor and Arvind Pai. [CO]

Sales slowed to a crawl at Saks Fifth Avenue this quarter. Sales were the lowest they’ve been in eight quarters for the flagship brand of Canada-based Hudson’s Bay, and the company blamed a precipitous drop in the gross profit margin on a “hyper-promotional environment.” [Bloomberg]