CHICAGO-Lawndale Plaza, a 104,241-sf infill urban shopping center located in the city's west side at 3240 W. Roosevelt Rd., has been sold for $19 million or $182 per sf. The deal was negotiated by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. John Riser, a senior director in Marcus & Millichap's National Retail Group in Indianapolis, and Demetrie Livaditis, a retail investment specialist based in the Chicago office, represented both parties in the transaction.

Built in 1999, tenants in the center include anchor Dominick's Finer Foods, Foot Locker, Starbucks, Hollywood Video, Payless ShoeSource, Subway and other retailers. Situated on the corner of West Roosevelt Road and Homan Avenue, the property is 0.4 miles south of the Eisenhower Expressway.

"Located in the heart of the North Lawndale neighborhood, this center features a variety of credit tenants in a densely populated area," Riser tells GlobeSt.com. "This site before development had been vacant for decades. Now, the center caters to more than 435,000 people who live within three miles of the property."

Riser says that the center has been continuously 100% occupied. "It has benefited not only from its curb appeal, but from a tremendous amount of community reinvestment in the area."

Livaditis explains to GlobeSt.com that "Dominick's was the first grocer to open in the neighborhood in 40 years." He says North Lawndale is an historic area for Chicago, minutes from the original headquarter location of Sears. "On that site now sits Homan Square, an urban redevelopment project that includes 300 single-family homes. A new YMCA serves the neighborhood now, which benefits from a number of new condominium projects as well."

Riser met the sellers at the ICSC convention in May 2005. "Urban retail requires a special skill set," he says. "Once we started marketing the property we eventually received about 10 firm offers. Dominick's was an original concern right from the beginning to institutional investors. Now, Safeway has put in a new manager who pays attention to the needs of the neighborhood, especially for African-American and Hispanic customers. This has dramatically increased its sales per sf."

The limited partnership group that sold the property, Pyramid West LP, includes Cecil Butler, Rich and Tony Kahn and Michael Rourke. Bernie Rosenson of BR Lawndale Plaza LLC bought the center and obtained financing for the purchase through Bear Stearns.