DWS Sells Jewel Osco-Anchored Retail To Hines

A Jewel Osco-anchored shopping center in trendy Wicker Park traded hands for $70 million last week, public records show.

Frankfurt, Germany-based affiliate of Deutsche Bank, DWS Asset Management, sold the shopping center to Houston-based Hines.

DWS’ retail real estate investment trust, RREEF Property Trust, bought the property at 1341 North Paulina Street in 2015 for $94 million in a transaction that also included several properties along the adjacent corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Ashland Avenue.

It’s unclear how many, if any, of those properties besides the Jewel Osco were also included in DWS’ recent $70 million sale to Hines. The only address listed in property tax records associated with the June 24 sale is the address tied to the grocery store specifically.

Representatives of DWS and Hines did not respond to requests for comment.

Grocery-anchored shopping centers fared well after the pandemic because investors felt they are less likely to be negatively impacted by a rise in online shopping habits among consumers.

Still, such transactions have slowed down in Chicago in recent months, while in the suburbs, retail activity has ticked up in areas experiencing population growth and more multifamily investment.

Late last year, DWS sold a Jewel Osco-anchored shopping center at 2900 South Waukegan Road to a Chicago-based Core Acquisitions bought for $44 million, or $102 per square foot, in the northern suburb of Deerfield.

In the same month, Charlotte-based Barings bought a 149,200-square-foot Jewel Osco-anchored shopping center for $54 million from Buffalo Grove-based Shorewood Development. The price worked out to $181 per square foot.

Also around the same time, Core Equity Partners bought Wind Point Shopping Center in Batavia for $25 million, or $91 per square foot, from retail specialist PMAT Companies.

Meanwhile, Hines has made several notable retail purchases over the last year including buying Clay Terrace, a 493,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center north of Indianapolis; and Runway, a 630,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center in Los Angeles, according to the firm’s website.