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CHICAGO-After a sell-off of most of the properties and the managing member jumped ship, retail firm Davis Street Land Co. LLC has revealed its move into third-party leasing and management. JMB Financial Advisors has hired Davis Street to lease out the 900 North Michigan Shops and adjacent retail, about 475,000 square feet.

The shops include upscale retailers such as Gucci, the Michael Kors Collection and Lululemon Athletica. JMB’s properties also include retail on Rush and Walton streets, including Urban Outfitters, Patagonia and Ugg Australia. The properties are less than 10% vacant.

The leasing is the first entry for Davis Street into the third-party part of the business. The company sold three of its seven malls to Bloomfield Hills, MI-based Taubman Centers Inc. in December, and Plaza Frontenac mall in St. Louis to General Growth Properties in September. Bob Perlmutter, who formed Davis Street as a division of his father Norman’s Perlmutter Investment Co., hired on as EVP for Santa Monica, CA-based Macerich last month.

Karen Land, a partner at Davis Street, tells GlobeSt.com that the new concentration for the company is not necessarily because of Perlmutter’s exit. “We still have five partners, including myself,” she says. “But the moves have given the partners the opportunity to refocus efforts and create a very successful boutique company that can concentrate on A-plus quality street fronts, in locations where retailers want to put stores.”

The Magnificent Mile is one of those top US locations where retailers, especially first-to-market national and international retailers, want to plant a flag. “Retail demand, of course, is very strong on Michigan Avenue,” Land says. “But we’re also seeing the move off Michigan going as far west as State Street, it really speaks to the strength of the retail market that’s returned since the recession.”

Instant Insights /

Davis Street Takes on North Michigan Retail

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