Sterling Organization cashed out big time on a suburban retail asset.
The Florida-based firm’s consumer logistics fund, created during the pandemic to buy vacant retail properties and convert them into distribution centers, sold a 152,000-square-foot former Fry’s Electronics store in Downers Grove for $24.5 million, CoStar reported. The sale price comes to roughly $161 per square foot.
Midwestern University was the buyer of the property, at 3300 Finley Road, where it plans to create a teaching veterinary clinic.
JLL brokers Dominic Carbonari, Kris Bjornson, Sam Brashler and Kate Coxworth represented the seller.
While it’s unclear how much Sterling Organization spent to repurpose the building, the firm bought it for nearly $11.3 million in July 2021. The company acquired the site after Fry’s closed all 31 of its stores across the nation, a move driven by an increase of e-commerce, which wreaked havoc on Chicagoland’s retail sector.
The recent deal marked the first sale from Sterling’s $225 million fund.
“This property holds special significance for our team, as it was the fund’s first acquisition and now its first disposition,” Joe Dykstra, president of Sterling Logistics Properties, told the outlet. “The successful sale of this asset aligns with our strategic vision and affirms our confidence in the fund and the continued growth of our logistics platform.”
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Sterling obtained village board approval for a zoning change to accommodate potential warehouse uses for the site, located along Interstate 355 and Interstate 88.
Details of Midwestern University’s plans to turn the west suburban property into an educational facility are unclear.
Sterling has a $2 billion portfolio, including more than 12 million square feet of retail assets. The firm owns five other retail-to-logistics properties around the country, with plans to acquire more, the outlet said.
—Quinn Donoghue