Howard Hughes looking to sell Chicago skyscraper stake, Cushman & Wakefield scoops up Eastdil brokers & more

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Chicago’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com.

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Texas-based developer Howard Hughes is looking to sell its stake in a new 55-story skyscraper under construction at 110 W. Wacker Drive. The building will cost about $722 million and is not expected to be complete for more than a year. [Crain’s]

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has allocated $10 million in her 2020 budget towards youth homelessness and affordable housing after initially promising $100 million on the campaign trail. The money will be used to create 200 residential units for homeless youth and 520 units for low-income families in gentrifying neighborhoods. [Sun-Times]

Greystar Real Estate Partners has purchased a student housing property leased to Columbia College Chicago in the South Loop. The company paid Philadelphia-based Gilbane Development $60 million for the 16-story dorm at 30 E. Balbo Drive, known as 30 East. [Crain’s]

Mike Ditka’s Gold Coast steakhouse will stay open for at least another year. After trying to negotiate a long-term lease since last summer, the more than 20-year-old restaurant was able to secure a lease extension. [Sun-Times]

Cushman & Wakefield is adding two former Eastdil Secured employees to its Chicago-based capital markets team. Jeff Altenau will lead the firm’s debt capital markets platform for Chicago and the Midwest as executive managing director, and Zach Yarnoff will partner with Altenau in growing the company’s business and execution of large, highly complex structured real estate financings and middle market financings as managing director. [RE Journals]

The Cook County Land Bank Authority gave away a three-bedroom bungalow in Washington Heights as part of its third annual Free Home Giveaway. Vanessa Johnson beat out 14,999 other residents who entered the contest last month to become the first homeowner in her family. [Block Club]

A property tax hike will not appear as a referendum on the 2020 ballot. If approved, the tax would have raised about $40 million a year for the Cook County Forest Preserves. County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said “now is not the time.” [WBEZ]

Mapping Chicago’s condo deconversions. The city has been awash in condo deconversions, and The Real Deal has created an interactive map that identifies all of them, from 2016 through Sept. 30. Check it out. [TRD]

JPMorgan Chase is closing more branches. The bank will shutter another 12 locations by the end of the year, most of which are located in the suburbs, after closing 18 branches last year. [Crain’s]

After a 14-year absence in Downtown, Krispy Kreme opened up. Franchisee Carlos Larcada calls the 1,000-foot-space “a great piece of real estate with great traffic.” This is the fourth Krispy Kreme shop he’s opened in the Chicago area in the last three years, and he plans to open four more. [Tribune]

SoftBank Group is taking control of WeWork. The Japanese conglomerate will provide a total of $6.5 billion in financing and buy $3 billion worth of investor shares. That wasn’t the only offer on the table. JPMorgan Chase put together a $5 billion debt package, which included high-interest bonds. SoftBank’s deal values WeWork at less than $8 billion — a humbling number, given its $47 billion valuation in January. [TRD, NYT]

But WeWork’s bills are only getting higher. The co-working company is facing rising costs from its leases and the need to build out its new spaces. According to company filings, WeWork has committed to lease payments from mid-2019 through 2023 that total $10.2 billion. And the cost of constructing new workstations could go over $1 billion. [WSJ]