Sperry Equities buys Bolingbrook shopping center

A California investment firm bought a 113,000-square-foot Bolingbrook shopping center, reflecting strong demand for retail in Chicago.

Irvine, Calif.-based Sperry Equities bought The Landings shopping center in the southwestern Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook from a venture of Atlanta-based RCG Ventures, the Chicago Business Journal reported. Terms of the deal, including the price, weren’t disclosed.

The shopping center at 137 North Weber Road, 91 percent leased at the time of the sale, is anchored by PetSmart, OfficeMax, Planet Fitness and Modern Furniture. Home Depot and Meijer are shadow anchors. The property also includes an outlot building that holds Duly Medical, Noodles & Company and For Eyes Optical.

Granted, the suburban retail market has been a struggle for some. In April, Starwood Capital took a steep loss on another Bolingbrook shopping center. A venture of M&J Wilkow and Bixby Bridge Capital bought $30 million of debt tied to the Promenade Bolingbrook shopping center at 631 East Boughton Road and subsequently took ownership of the property. Starwood also lost control of the Louis Joliet Mall in October and the Arboretum of South Barrington in June.

Chicago’s retail market is recovering from the pandemic, especially in the suburbs. In the year ending in March, there were 70 percent more retail property deals than in the prior 12 months. Net absorption surpassed 3.3 million square feet in suburban Chicago last year, and vacancies in the suburbs dropped 20 basis points below pre-pandemic levels.

“We’ve seen tremendous demand for shopping centers and retail product overall,” Mid-America Real Estate’s Ben Wineman, who closed the Bolingbrook deal on behalf of the seller, told The Real Deal in June. “Generally speaking the retail investment sales market is the strongest we’ve seen since before the Great Recession.”

— Victoria Pruitt