More West Loop Props. Trade Hands

CHICAGO—Mark Nelson of NelsonHill has been handling real estate transactions on the Near West Side for years, but has never seen properties change hands at today’s pace. “This is a consequence of the Google deal,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s been like a tsunami into the neighborhood.” When Sterling Bay Cos. bought and then began refurbishing the Fulton Market Cold Storage building at 1000 W. Fulton, now called 1K Fulton, into modern office space, “nobody saw that the property values would escalate as radically as they did after the company signed Google as a tenant.” Google will move into the 550,000-square-foot building next year.

Nelson estimates that by the end of 2014 the value of neighborhood properties that trade hands will be double what was bought and sold in 2013. Although most of the individual deals are relatively small, taken together the transactions are transforming the neighborhood from an industrial zone mostly dedicated to food production and distribution and into a high-end office community. In 2014, NelsonHill has completed nine sales east of Ashland Ave. in the West Loop totaling more than $38 million.