Newport Capital Partners Buys Chicago Shopping Center for $30M

Newport Capital Partners has acquired a Jewel-Osco-anchored shopping center on the Near West Side, two months after offloading another retail asset in the city.

The Chicago investor paid $30.6 million for the 109,800-square-foot property at 1220 South Ashland Avenue, in the Illinois Medical District, Crain’s reported. The price comes to roughly $278 per square foot.

The seller was Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group, which acquired the property in 2021 through its merger with Oak Brook-based Retail Properties of America. CBRE’s Richard Frolik, Christian Williams and Michael Wilson brokered the deal.

Newport Capital financed the purchase with a loan from Manulife, although the loan amount is unclear.

The transaction comes two months after Newport sold the 55,000-square-foot Belden Centre in Lincoln Park to Regal Ventures for $11.2 million, a little under $204 per square foot.

Nationwide, retail sales fell 51 percent year-over-year in May amid high interest rates and a tough lending climate, the outlet reported, citing MSCI Real Assets. A spike in e-commerce following the pandemic has also stymied investor interest in retail assets, contributing to a Loop retail vacancy rate of 30 percent in 2023.

However, grocery-anchored shopping centers, along with other “daily-needs” retail properties, have remained lucrative investments.

“Leasing momentum is strong in Chicago, and there is very little new development,” Newport principal Ben Andrews told the outlet.

The shopping center is 93 percent leased, with a 63,400-square-foot Jewel-Osco as its primary tenant. Others include Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway and Bank of America.