"We found both to be attractive additions to our portfolio," Romanek investment director Peter Holstein tells GlobeSt.com. The company has 11 additional properties spread out throughout the upper Midwest, totaling roughly 1 million square feet.

In Lisle, IL, Romanek purchased the headquarters of Claymore Securities at 2455 Corporate West Dr. The $10.5 million deal took only 90 days to close from the first moment of conversation about the sale to signing the contract, according to Holstein. The seller's name was undisclosed. Romanek was represented by CB Richard Ellis executive vice president David Justh and Transwestern managing director of Investment Sales Gary Nussbaum.

Further South, in Columbia, MO, Romanek picked up the 89,975-square-foot headquarters of Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories Inc. for $16.5 million, in a sale/leaseback transaction. ABC Labs was represented by Lee & Associates Broker CJ Kuehl. The leaseback terms were not disclosed.

ABC Labs' property is the first building in the Discovery Ridge Research Park, a research park located at the University of Missouri at the intersection of Highway 63 and Gans Rd. The pharmaceutical company moved into the facility last September after the $15 million construction project completed. According to a release put out at the time, this facility double ABC Labs' capacity and will allow for additional growth through 2012.

The pharmaceutical facility will be near the proposed $175 million mixed-use project to be built around the University of Missouri. Plans for the 220-acre site include 400,000 sf of office, 700,000 sf of retail and about 500 units of apartments and condos.