CenterSquare Buys Geneva Commons Retail from Lamar

Lamar Companies is proving distressed retail turnarounds are viable in suburban Chicago.

The New Jersey-based firm sold an 87,000-square-foot portion of Geneva Commons to Philadelphia-based CenterSquare Investment Management for nearly $39 million, according to public records. By offloading just 20 percent of the shopping center, Lamar recouped over 60 percent of its initial investment from when it bought the property at a dramatic discount from its prior value two years ago, all while retaining more than 300,000 square feet, a person familiar with the deal said.

The deal represents a strong sign for the suburban Chicago shopping center market.

By stabilizing the asset and spinning off the central parcel, Lamar effectively stabilized its 2024 debt. The transaction illustrates that institutional buyers remain hungry for modernized open-air retail hubs, even as enclosed suburban Chicago malls face severe financial distress and require expensive redevelopment plans.

The Geneva Commons turnaround presents a stark contrast to private equity giant Blackstone, whose affiliate Perform Properties took a 59 percent loss on The Streets at Woodfield in Schaumburg in a January sale. Blackstone bought that 693,000-square-foot plaza for $168.5 million in 2015 and dumped it to Hutensky Capital Partners for $69 million after the property struggled with anchor tenant closures. Hutensky is now on a quest to blaze a comeback trail taken by the Geneva property.

Lamar’s success stems from value-add execution. The firm purchased the 440,370-square-foot Geneva lifestyle center in April 2024 for $63.8 million. The deal handed seller LaSalle Investment Management a painful $60 million loss. Lamar financed the bargain with a $60.2 million loan from Banc of California; CenterSquare wrapped the financing for its partial acquisition of Geneva Commons into a $78 million revolving credit agreement with CIBC Bank that also encumbers other properties within the landlord’s portfolio, Kane County records show.

A Lamar representative declined to comment and CenterSquare didn’t return a request for comment.

Lamar’s limited partner in the Geneva Commons deal is Louisville, Colorado-based Real Capital Solutions, which has been gobbling up office towers across the country at huge discounts. Some of Real Capital’s purchases include the $133 million 401 North Michigan Avenue sale in Chicago, as well as an Atlanta tower it bought last week for $50 million and a Minneapolis office property for which it spent $34 million.

Real Capital, led by veteran real estate investor Marcel Arsenault, remains invested alongside Lamar in the rest of the Geneva Commons property. They enlisted Mid-America Asset Management to overhaul the tenant mix. In the two years they owned the entire property, they inked nearly 46,000 square feet of new retail leases, driving occupancy from 88 percent to 95 percent. The team secured tenants like Lululemon, Warby Parker and Big Blue Swim School, while completing $2.4 million in common area improvements, they said earlier this month in a news release.

While Lamar kept the property’s big-box spaces — home to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble and Sephora — CenterSquare acquired the dining and lifestyle core. Property records show the transaction includes four central pad buildings near Randall Road and two additional outbuildings along the thoroughfare. CenterSquare’s tenant roster leans into food and wellness, with some apparel as well, featuring White House Black Market women’s clothing store, along with Five Guys, a Sleep Number mattress store, Potbelly, Noodles and Company and Mexican restaurant Hacienda Real.