NORTHBROOK, IL-Romanek Properties bought its own headquarters building, a 195,101-square-foot office property, for $26.2 million recently. The company, in association with Bachmann Associates Ltd. and Syndicated Equities Ltd., purchased the building from 400 Skokie Investors.
The buyer occupies about 5,000 square feet in the 80,000-square-foot building, which is about 88% leased. Other tenants at the eight-story property include M. Holland, Ameriprise International and Levenfeld Pearlstein. The office is at 400 Skokie Blvd.
Peter Holstein, investment director at Romanek, tells GlobeSt.com that he has had his eye on buying the property for some time. “We were intrigued about five or six years ago when the property went through occupancy issues, the seller did a terrific job stabilizing,” he says. The sellers owned the property since it was developed in the late 1980s.
As the sale was finalized, TD Ameritrade agreed to a lease of a 5,500-square-foot new free-standing building in the parking lot. The financial firm signed a 10-year lease for the building, which should open in mid-2011, Holstein says.
He says the North Shore office market, while not one of the largest markets, is one of the best performing. “It’s pretty self-contained along Lake Michigan, and leasing rates seem to be holding up there. It’s not like the rest of the Chicago suburbs, which have had some issues with vacancy,” Holstein says.
Paul Lundstedt, SVP and director with Grubb & Ellis, represented the seller. Ladder Capital Finance provided long-term financing.
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