Evergreen Plaza sold for $67M in Chicago’s largest retail deal of the year

The Evergreen Plaza shopping center is trading hands for just over $67 million, marking Chicago’s largest retail property sale of the year.

California investment firm LBX Investments bought the 255,000-square-foot shopping center on Western Avenue in Evergreen Park from a joint venture between Fortress Investment Group and Lormax Stern, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. The property was the first regional mall in the nation when it opened in 1952 and was the second indoor mall after renovation in the 1960s.

The shopping center lost most of its tenants and was left mostly vacant by 2013. Lormax Stern then decided to demolish the structure and redevelop it with a smaller footprint. The owners brought in tenants such as Burlington, Planet Fitness, T.J. Maxx and Whole Foods.

LBX didn’t acquire an empty 120,000-square-foot storefront at the southern end of the property. It’s being marketed for sale or lease.

The purchase is the first in the Chicago area by LBX. The $67.3 million deal, $263 per square foot, was financed with a $45.4 million loan from Angel Oak Commercial Lending.

Retail real estate is making a comeback despite the lingering effects of the pandemic. Shopping centers that feature a grocery store anchor are considered safer investments because most people are still buying groceries in stores instead of online.

The largest real estate sale in the area since the pandemic was in May 2020, when a Boston investor paid almost $71 million for a Whole Foods store in Lakeview.

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[Crain’s] — Victoria Pruitt