Out-of-State Buyers Want Chicago's Class A Retail

Clybourn Galleria, a fully leased, urban retail center in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The 24,601-square-foot center is in the midst of the bustling North & Clybourn Retail Corridor across from Trader Joe’s and adjacent to Lincoln Yards, a new $1 billion mixed-use development.

CHICAGO—Worries about big box vacancy has more than ever focused investors’ attention on core, well-located, class A properties. Westwood Financial LLC, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, is one of several groups now on a bit of a buying spree in the Chicago market. It just acquired Clybourn Galleria, a fully leased, urban retail center in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The 24,601-square-foot center is in the midst of the bustling North & Clybourn Retail Corridor across from Trader Joe’s and adjacent to Lincoln Yards, the new 70-acre, $1 billion, mixed-used development by Sterling Bay.

The purchase price was undisclosed, but Cook County records show Westwood paid $12.25 million. That was just over the $11.75 million paid by the seller, Newport Capital Partners, in 2013.