California Firm Offers Rare Chicago Luxury Retail Listing

A California real estate firm is putting a fully leased luxury retail property on the Magnificent Mile up for sale, testing investor appetite as the corridor works through a long and uncertain recovery.

Blatteis & Schnur listed the 5,900-square-foot retail space at the base of the Westin Michigan Avenue hotel at 909 North Michigan Avenue, Crain’s reported, just two years after acquiring it for $27.3 million. The space is fully leased to three upscale tenants: Swiss watchmaker Omega, Italian jewelry brand Bulgari and local jewelry retailer Burdeen’s.

Few retail assets on the Mag Mile have changed hands since the pandemic decimated foot traffic and led to a wave of major tenant departures.

Brokers at Newmark, who are marketing the property for sale, say the tenants have nearly seven years of weighted average lease term remaining, a metric used to gauge long-term income stability for potential buyers.

Broker Keely Polczynski said the lack of recent trades for core, stabilized retail assets on the Mag Mile has made it “hard to peg the market.” This listing could offer a test of where investor sentiment stands.

The Mag Mile’s retail vacancy is about 25.35 percent, according to Newmark. But leasing activity has picked up in recent months, with commitments from Spanish fashion retailer Mango, a Harry Potter-themed concept shop and a returning Uniqlo store at 830 North Michigan.

Polczynski described the leasing outlook as showing “green shoots,” with some distressed properties working through basis resets and others gaining traction with national and international tenants.

If a deal for 909 North Michigan closes near its prior valuation, it could help reset expectations on one of the nation’s most recognizable shopping corridors. Some newer leases have brought optimism, but few sales have tested current pricing for stabilized, luxury-oriented assets since 2020.

— Judah Duke