CHICAGO—The end of the year can get hectic, with most people worried about finishing up holiday preparations like Christmas shopping and vacation plans. But many prospective commercial real estate sellers have additional worries. Whether for tax purposes or other reasons, they have properties they want to unload before the end of the year and time has almost run out. And officials from Next Realty, LLC, an investment firm in suburban Chicago, have a message for those who have put off a needed transaction to the last minute.

“We have the capital and we're ready to go,” says Eteri Zaslavsky, vice president of business development. “We find that during the year, sellers are testing out the market,” but some end up getting caught near the year's end without having landed a solid deal. “Every year, it always seems there are last minute transactions.”

Last December, for example, the firm completed the acquisition of Oak Lawn Promenade, a 30,000-square-foot retail center in suburban Oak Lawn, in only 23 days, a process that from LOI to closing usually takes 60 to 90 days. Next Realty had made the seller an earlier offer, but he still shopped the center around a bit before calling back in early December.

“We had three weeks to go, and that's a pretty condensed time for a $5 million deal,” says Zaslavsky. However, “it fit our investment strategy perfectly,” and the firm was ready to plunk down cash. Next typically looks for value-add properties, and this one definitely fit the profile. The roof leaked, the facade was showing its age, and municipal officials were growing unhappy over its appearance.

“It was kind of wild. We dropped everything we had going on and brought in a team of due diligence experts. We were there from morning to night.” She also praises Leo Solarte, managing partner of Greenstone Partners, for helping cement the deal. “He was the seller's broker,” but really assisted everyone scrambling to tie up loose ends. “He held this deal together when it could have fallen apart half a dozen times.”

“The only way for year-end closings to work is a team effort,” coupled with the “focus and drive of a buyer who is enthusiastic about a property,” says Rebekah Carlson, Next Realty's director of marketing. And Zaslavsky adds that in those hectic days, the normal corporate hierarchy disappeared. “Our acquisitions analyst and the president of the company were there going through files.”

The transaction closed on December 31, 2012—just in time to satisfy the seller's year-end need—with the key parties to the sale all in different winter vacation spots including India, Mexico, and Florida.

In the past year, Next has worked to revive their new center, terminating several leases, adding new tenants and renovating the once-crumbling facade. “It's going to have a whole new life when we're done with it,” Zaslavsky says. Tenants now occupy 85% of the property, up from 75% one year ago. The Vitamin Shoppe, for example, signed a long-term lease for 3,000-square-feet on the end-cap which they will occupy by the end of the year. Other new tenants include Fred Loya Insurance and Blackhawk Restaurant Group.

Zaslavsky says she considers the Oak Lawn Promenade experience “our prototype for other deals.” And the firm once again has funds available for all-cash year-end acquisitions, this time through its Next Realty Fund VIII, LP investment vehicle. “Even if something came up today, we could close it by the year's end.”

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Getting Year-End Closings Done Quickly

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