Suburban Chicago shopping center sold in potential sign of retail rebound

A suburban Chicago shopping center anchored by a grocery store sold for $30 million, suggesting a potential rebound for retail real estate after a pandemic slump.

Local investor North American Real Estate Group paid $30 million to buy Market Plaza in Glen Ellyn, 24 miles west of downtown, from New York real estate investment trust RPT Realty. The 166,572-square-foot shopping center is at 525-613 Roosevelt Road

Grocery store Jewel Osco has been a primary tenant for more than 25 years. Other retailers include Ross Dress for Less, Dollar Tree, Staples and Royal Nail and Spa. The shopping center is at the intersection of Park Boulevard and Roosevelt Road. An average household living within a three-mile radius earns about $131,500, according to JLL, which represented the seller.

“Investor appetite for value-add opportunities continues to increase as the market recovers from COVD and well-located centers continuing to see enhanced leasing velocity and tenant demand,” said JLL’s Amy Sands.

As shoppers return to brick-and-mortar, US shopping centers have gained about 6 percent in value, according to Green Street Advisors, a California research firm. Retail centers anchored by grocery chains are considered less risky because most shoppers still tend to buy groceries in stores.

Chicago’s largest retail property sale this year came in October when California investment firm LBX Investments paid $67 million for the Evergreen Plaza shopping center at 9500 to 9700 South Western Avenue. That’s just shy of the $71 million price for a Whole Foods Market sold in May 2020 in Lakeview, the most for a Chicago-area grocery store since the pandemic.

North American Real Estate owns more than 20 properties in the Chicago area, most of them shopping centers, according to its website.