WP Carey Sells Westell HQ for $16M

AURORA, IL-A joint venture of Pembroke Capital LLC and Xel Aurora LLC, an affiliate of Lexington Realty Trust, has purchased the 210,887-square-foot headquarters facility of Westell Technologies Inc. WP Carey & Co. sold the flex building for $16 million, sources say.

Westell has a 20-year lease on the property at 750 N. Commons Dr., located in the Meridian Business Campus. The building features 92,085 square feet of warehouse space and 118,802 square feet of office.

Erik Foster, SVP with Grubb & Ellis Co., said in a statement that the building was sold at a fraction of its replacement cost. Foster and Mike Wilson represented the seller in the disposition.

CHICAGO-MB Real Estate’s Corporate Services & Tenant Advisory group represented HDI-Gerling America Insurance Co. in an 18,000-square-foot lease at 161 N. Clark St. The commercial property and casualty insurance company, a wholly owned unit of German insurance company HDI-Gerling, will be expanding from its current 12,000-square-foot office at 150 N. Wacker Dr. in Chicago to the 48th floor at the new building this summer. David Kimball, along with senior vice president Jay Beadle, represented HDI-Gerling America. Jonathan Cordell with Tishman Speyer represented the building owner.

CHICAGO-Summit Design + Build LLC has started construction at 1846 W. Division, the new construction of a modern 35,000 square foot, four-story apartment building and for Prasino, a 6,500-square-foot restaurant which will be located on the first floor of that building in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Construction originally began on this project in 2008 and abruptly came to a halt in May of 2009 with just the structural steel, wood decking and concrete infrastructure complete. The company said the biggest challenge was taking over the aging structure which was left untouched and exposed to the elements for nearly two years. Upon completion, which is schedule for late spring, the structure will feature 11 luxury apartment units and underground parking.

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL-Jones Lang LaSalle has arranged a renewal and expansion lease for Valtera Corp., a talent management and human resources consulting firm, at the tenant’s corporate headquarters at the Continental Towers office complex in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows. Gregg Raus and Mark Kolar completed the transaction on behalf of Valtera.

 The company will be expanding the size of its space by about 18 percent, from approximately 20,000 square feet to 23,682 square feet due to the continued growth of its business, said Lawrence Steponik, Valtera’s director of quality assurance, in a statement.

CHICAGO–Cleveland-based Euro USA has purchased 4430 S. Tripp here from Protein Solutions for an undisclosed amount. The site will serve as the company’s Chicago processing and distribution location. CB Richard Ellis’ Steve Livaditis represented both parties in the transaction. Located in the Crawford Industrial District, the site is a 35,748 SF Class A food processing building recently rebuilt in 2004. Situated on 1.5 acres on a corner lot, the building features three external loading docks.

MCCOOK, IL-Development firm Clarius Partners has signed a new long-term industrial lease to an Atlanta-based industrial user totaling 61,256 square feet within Clarius Park McCook. Located at 9200 W. 55th St., this is the second tenant signed at the Park bringing the leasing of Building 1 to more than 50% occupancy. When complete, the $28 million development will consist of two Class-A industrial facilities totaling 368,841 square feet and is situated on a 20-acre infill land site. The long-term lease considerations are in excess of $3.7 million. Adam Stokes and Mark Barbato with Nicolson Porter & List represented Clarius Partners in the lease negotiations. The industrial user was represented by Timothy Cahill and Nick Rossini with UGL Equis.

BEDFORD PARK, IL-UGL Services, a division of UGL Limited, has inked a 225,000-square-foot lease for industrial warehouse space at 6558 W. 73rd Street today for Sappi Fine Paper North America, a global paper products manufacturer and supplier. William Strey and Dirk Hrobsky with UGL represented Sappi in negotiations for a long-term lease for space inside this 309,479-square-foot, rail-served warehouse near the Interstate 55 industrial corridor. Adam Roth with NAI Hiffman represented the landlord, the Mirvac Industrial Trust. Mirvac has 64 industrial assets in the Chicago region.

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN-NorthMarq has been named as property manager for Windsor Plaza, a 126,864 square-foot, Class A office and retail facility at 11995 Singletree Ln., near Eden Prairie Center. The five-floor Windsor Plaza, owned by Windsor Plaza LLC, is 99 percent occupied, with Virtual Radiologic Corp as its largest tenant.

DETROIT-L. Mason Capitani Corfac recently arranged the sale of a 28,042-square-foot industrial facility at 2000 Porter St. The purchaser, 1401 Vermont LLC, plans to use the building as an artists guild. Michael Grammatico and Tom Jablonski represented the seller in this transaction.

HIGH RIDGE, MO-Mediquip Parts Plus purchased a 34,526-square-foot industrial building at 4639 Waldo Industrial Dr. here from L M & N Building LLC. Paul Nagel and Rudy Stinnett with Gundaker Commercial Group Inc. represented the seller in this transaction. Kevin McKeon with NAI Desco represented the buyer.

HOBART, IN-Albanese Confectionery signed a new lease with Becknell Development at NorthWind Crossings just off I-65 and 61st Avenue for 31,986 square feet. The new location will be used for storage and packaging of product for expansion of its growing business. The new location is located within a 95,000-square-foot building in Becknell’s 200-acre NorthWind Crossing business park. Albanese needed to make room for a 20,400 square foot expansion for Gummi Bear production at the existing facility.