Blatteis & Schnur step up to Mag Mile with Chicago retail holdings for $27M

At least one Chicago retail investor will still take a chance on Magnificent Mile real estate.

Los Angeles-based Blatteis & Schnur last week graduated from its Windy City retail holdings on Superior Street and Armitage Avenue and picked up an asset on the city’s most famous shopping strip: A fully leased, 5,860-square-foot space at 909 North Michigan Avenue for $27.3 million, Crain’s reported. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which still owns the Westin Hotel at the property, sold its retail portion. Eastdil Secured brokered the deal.

The transaction signals a step on the path to recovery for the famed retail strip, showing it can still draw a new investor to the area. The Mag Mile has endured a brutal stretch ever since the pandemic sent vacancy rates skyrocketing, as stores lost big-name tenants such as Gap, Uniqlo and Banana Republic. The corridor’s retail space is currently 29 percent vacant.

Blatteis & Schnur, led by Dan Blatteis, is counting on the area to rebound with new tenants and tourism, but the 909 North Michigan property is perhaps a safer bet than other Mag Mile listings. The property has three tenants: luxury watchmaker Omega and upscale jewelry shops Bulgari and Burdeen’s, and the average remaining lease terms on their deals with the landlord are more than six years for the building, the outlet reported.

Other notable Mag Mile transactions during the pandemic include Silvestri Investments’ purchase of the 196,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus building, and Canadian women’s apparel chain Aritzia’s lease of 46,000 square square feet property at 555 North Michigan. Both deals were completed last year.

Blatteis & Schnur has been investing in Chicago real estate for years. It owns a retail property two blocks west of Michigan Avenue at 25 East Superior Street, and two other properties on the 1000 block of West Armitage Avenue, the outlet reported.

— Quinn Donoghue