OAK BROOK, IL-TreeHouse Foods Inc., a maker of private-label foods, has agreed to move its corporate headquarters to 48,000-square-feet space at 2021 Spring Rd. within the Commerce Plaza office complex here.

The company is relocating from the Westbrook Corporate Center in Westchester, IL, where it leased about 33,000 square feet. The move to Commerce Plaza will allow the company to expand its space and consolidate on two contiguous floors. 

The complex is leased by Jones Lang LaSalle for owner Arden Realty. JLL also recently arranged a lease for MetLife Bank N.A. for 14,200 square feet at 2015 Spring Rd. in the same complex. The two leases total more than 62,000 square feet, and bring the overall occupancy rate of the 555,500-square-foot Commerce Plaza to more than 84%.

Karla Harmon with JLL represented the property owner in both transactions. TreeHouse Foods was represented by David Lind of CB Richard Ellis while MetLife Bank was represented by Jones Lang LaSalle.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL-HDG Mansur has awarded Transwestern the leasing assignment for Arlington Pointe at 95 West Algonquin Rd. Built in 1983, the 136,500-square-foot Class B office building has two contiguous floors, totaling 50,000 square feet, available for lease. AT&T gave back two floors, and HDG has decided to make the property available for multitenant leasing. Joe Stevens, Fred Ishler and Zach Fox with Transwestern are the leasing agents on the assignment. Transwestern also handles management for the property.

WILLOWBROOK, IL-Regency Centers has leased retail space here at Hinsdale Lake Commons to Goodwill, which has leased 22,800 square feet of retail space and is slated to open for business in November. Goodwill was represented by Carole Borg at CBRE. According to Mike Streit, Regency Centers senior leasing agent, the 178,960-square-foot shopping center is anchored by a 69,540-square foot-Dominick’s alongside national retailers such as Caribou Coffee and Ace Hardware. Hinsdale Lake Commons is at 6300 Robert Kingery Hwy.

ROMEOVILLE, IL-CB Richard Ellis represented Midwest Air Technologies, an affiliate of MAT Holdings Inc. and the largest minority-owned company in the Chicago area, in its purchase of 821 Bluff Rd. here. The 506,777-square-foot new industrial building was sold by Land and Lakes Development for an undisclosed amount. Midwest will take occupancy of the building this fall. CBRE’s Keith Puritz and Brett Kroner represented Midwest. Located within the Bluff Point Business Park, Midwest plans to use the building  for distribution of fencing, hardware and lawn and garden products, and it will replace the company’s current warehouse in Bolingbrook. The never-occupied industrial building was completed in July 2009. Lynn Reich and Jeffrey Kapcheck wtih Colliers International negotiated on behalf of Land and Lakes Development. US Asia Group acted as a consultant for Midwest. 

CHICAGO-HSA Commercial Real Estate’s Wayne Shulman and Tim Thompson recently represented the ownership of 1260 W. Madison in a lease with SkinnyCorp LLC, the parent company of Threadless, for the entire 45,000-square-foot warehouse facility. The tenant signed a long-term lease and will use the building for executive offices and distribution of apparel for its subsidiary, Threadless, an Internet-based seller of custom-designed t-shirts. Threadless will relocate from its Ravenswood facilities to 1260 W. Madison in early September. The complex transaction involved a change of ownership as well as a zoning reversal to accommodate a light industrial user. The facility is a former FedEx property acquired from a Milwaukee bank by Chicago-based JRG Capital Partners LLC in a loan sale auction last year. The previous owners had planned to redevelop the property into condominiums. Rezoning was required before the property could be repurposed for commercial use. "The new owners stepped in at the ideal time," said Shulman. "We were able to guide the deal through a loan sale and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure, and reversed the zoning from residential back to the property's original zoning for commercial use. These steps were required to position the property for an appropriate use in the current market." Daniel McCarthy, SVP at Jones Lang LaSalle, represented SkinnyCorp/ Threadless in the transaction.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL-Goodwill Industries recently signed a lease for 16,540 square feet at Surrey Ridge Shopping Center here. Goodwill plans to open a resale store here in November 2010. Mid-America Senior Leasing Representative Kitsy Ritter represented the landlord in the lease transaction, while Carole Borg of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant. The 172,769-square-foot center on the northeast corner of Golf and Algonquin roads, and is anchored by Lowe's, with other tenants including Bank of America and National Tire & Battery.

MOUNT PROSPECT, IL-Cohen Financial has secured $12 million in refinancing for a 222 unit multifamily property Timberlake Apartments. Dan Rosenberg, director of Cohen Financial in the Chicago office, secured the 35-year, fixed-rate loan with an 85% loan-to-value (LTV) through Oak Grove Capital, a national multifamily lender. The borrower is a Chicago-based multifamily property investor and manager.

CHICAGO-Aries Capital announced that its private commercial real estate lending affiliate, Aries Real Estate Fund, has successfully concluded a $3.2 million venture organizing the completion and sale of all units within the Atwood Condominiums of Chicago. As a result of the project’s success, Aries has also launched a new division of the firm – Aries Asset Management Services. Located just east of Clark Street in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, the Atwood is a 12-unit development. Led by Andrew R. Wilson, the Atwood project began in November 2009, when the firm accepted a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure on the vacant property. Liz LaTour of Keller Williams brokered the sales of the renovated one- and two-bedroom units which were successfully sold within five months of the completion of construction.

LEMONT, IL-Xcell International Corp. has leased 30,789 square feet of space within a 130,986 square foot building at 20 W 345 101st St. here. The firm is expanding their operations into the facility that is just minutes from a full interchange at Interstate 55 and Lemont Road. Xcell’s two divisions are Dean Jacob’s Specialty Foods and Fun Pack Foods. Jerry Sullivan, principal and Brandon Wright, associate with Paine/Wetzel - ONCOR International represented the landlord, Manulife Financial, in the transaction and Pete Roberson with CBRE worked on behalf of the tenant.

CHICAGO-Essex Realty Group Inc. arranged the sale of a 30-unit, vintage courtyard apartment building. The property at 6849 S. Clyde is in the South Shore neighborhood, within walking distance to Lake Michigan. The property consists of six one-bedroom, 21 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom units. David Goss and Jon Morgan of Essex represented the seller. Jim Darrow, also of Essex, represented the purchaser. The price was approximately $1.1 million.

CHICAGO-A Tokyo-based restaurant chain has leased 12,000 square feet at 210 E. Ohio St., one block east of Michigan Avenue, for a new Gyu-Kaku restaurant. Gyu-Kaku features a Japanese barbecue concept and has more than 700 locations worldwide, including 12 in the United States in California, New York and Hawaii. Lee Ffrench and Nancy Simon Cooper of @properties Commercial, represented the building owner, a partnership known as CORU 210 LLC. Yoshi Nakaoka of Redac Inc. represented the tenant, Reins International USA, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Rex Holdings Co. Ltd. “This is a positive sign for retail real estate on and around the Magnificent Mile,” said Ffrench. “To see a new user come into the Chicago market and take a large block of space is encouraging.” Gyu-Kaku has a 10-year lease for the entire building, which is currently vacant. They have begun a build-out of the restaurant space, which will include a down-draft venting system that had to receive special approval from the city of Chicago. The system is a key component to the Gyu-Kaku concept, which involves restaurant goers preparing their own food on a smokeless in-table grill. The three-story building at 210 E. Ohio stood vacant for several years after a prior tenant’s restaurant plans never got off the ground and then the financial crisis hit.

ROCKFORD, IL-Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is considering the Rockford area for their new residential campus for 500 residential students and 500 commuter students to meet the growing demand for aerospace graduates. The university opened its Rockford campus in 2008 at the Chicago Rockford International Airport. The final decision is expected to be made in November.

OMAHA-The Tile Shop has leased a 20,412 square foot store located in Montclair on Center, at 132nd and West Center roads. Dan Dutton with Seldin Company represented the landlord. The new store is The Tile Shop’s first retail location in the Omaha metro area. The new retail store will be a new anchor tenant at Montclair on Center, and will employ between 10-15 seasoned tile sales consultants. The Tile Shop joins 26 other established retailers and 16 professional offices including Marshalls’s, Hancock Fabrics, the Kitchen Place, Bruegger’s Bagels, Zio’s Pizza, Walgreens, Christopher & Banks, and House of J at Montclair on Center.

OMAHA-Inland Real Estate Corp. today announced an acquisition through its joint venture with Inland Real Estate Exchange Corp. of the Farnam Tech Center here. The company purchased for approximately $18 million the 118,000-square-foot Farnam Tech Center, comprised of two, two-story office buildings leased to TD Ameritrade and Prime Therapeutics. IRC funded the acquisition with a first mortgage loan in the amount of $9 million, as well as a draw on its line of credit facility and cash on hand.

LEXINGTON, KY-Hendricks & Partners arranged the sale of Zandale Terrace, at 2160 Nicholasville Rd. here. The 72-unit apartment community was sold for$1.2 million. Built in 1962, Zandale Terrace consists of 39 studio, 25 one-bedroom, and eight two-bedroom units. The seller was Zandale Partners LLC of Yorba Linda, CA, and the buyer was Zandale Green LLC of Lexington. The transaction was negotiated by Todd Stofflet, Rick L. Vidrio, and Rick Brace on behalf of the seller. The buyer was represented by Gary Milton of Milton & Associates.

BLUE SPRINGS, MO-Westchester, IL-based Tri-Land Properties Inc. has sold its Blue Springs Market project to Hy-Vee Inc., a supermarket chain in the Midwest. The 84,146-square-foot space was previously a Kmart. Hy-Vee will retrofit the existing building to fit the corporate floor plan.

NOVI, MI-Friedman Real Estate Group Inc. recently negotiated the lease of 5,605 square feet of office space at 39475 13 Rd. The landlord, Novi Office Center LLC, leased the space to Rehau Automotive. Rehau is a maker of polymer-based solutions. Todd Hawley, SVP with of Friedman, represented the landlord in this transaction.