Sterling Bay borrows $58.5 million for Sara Lee project
This photo of 400 S. Jefferson is from today.
Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay Cos. borrowed $58.5 million to fund the acquisition and redevelopment of the future corporate headquarters of Sara Lee Corp.'s yet-to-be-named meat business in the West Loop, according to Minneapolis-based NorthMarq Capital Inc., which arranged the financing. Sterling Bay received a loan from Chicago-based real estate investment firm Heitman LLC for the $10 million purchase of the four-story building at 400 S. Jefferson St. from a group of local investors, and a three-year construction loan from Bank of America N.A. to fully gut the structure built in 1946, according to Jeff Cherner, senior vice president and managing director of NorthMarq's Chicago regional office. Sara Lee will occupy 221,089 of the building's approximately 230,000 square feet of office space, with a 15-year lease to leave its headquarters in west suburban Downers Grove. Heitman is providing $10.5 million toward the project, an executive says. Sterling Bay Principal Andy Gloor did not return calls. "We have a strong commitment to this project and we are delighted to be working with the team at Sterling Bay,” Bank of America commercial real estate executive Pete Malecek said in a statement emailed by a spokeswoman. Sara Lee says it will move 500 to 650 employees to the building, and it will receive $5 million to $6.5 million in tax increment financing to subsidize the move. Related story: Sterling Bay to partner with Heitman on Sara Lee site
Laurence Geller
Strategic Hotels CEO sees 50 percent pay jump
Laurence Geller, president and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., received $3.9 million in total compensation last year, up 50 percent from 2010, according to a proxy statement the company filed Tuesday. Stock awards, which jumped nearly fivefold to $1.5 million, accounted for the majority of the increase and are based on performance goals for 2010. Total compensation for the real estate investment trust's second-highest paid executive, Chief Financial Officer Diane Morefield, rose 10 percent, to $1.4 million. Chicago-based Strategic Hotels, whose properties include the Fairmont Chicago and InterContinental on Michigan Avenue, has benefited from a rebounding hotel market and a push to reduce debt through property sales and recapitalizations. A Strategic Hotels spokeswoman declines to comment.
Wellness firm expands in Schaumburg
Interactive Health Solutions Inc. will more than double the size of its headquarters when it moves from Arlington Heights to Schaumburg this summer. The workplace wellness company leased 26,592 square feet at Two Century Centre, an 11-story office tower at 1700 E. Golf Road near Woodfield Mall, according to Transwestern, which represented building owner Pearlmark Real Estate Partners in the deal. Interactive Health Solutions marketing director Tricia Johnson says the company, which continues to hire new employees, has outgrown its 12,000-square-foot space at 3800 N. Wilke Road in Arlington Heights. The lease “shows some signs of life and vitality in terms of a major transaction getting done in the Schaumburg market,” says Fred Ishler, a Transwestern senior vice-president. Paul Buckingham of Grubb & Ellis, which represented Interactive Health Solutions, declines to comment.
Intellectual property firm extends lease at 200 W. Madison
Ocean Tomo LLC, an intellectual property consultant, extended its lease for more than 36,000 square feet at 200 W. Madison St. The firm's lease, which began in 2005, now expires in 2021, says Mary Lou Chuinard, the firm's director of human resources and operations. Ms. Chuinard declines to comment on financial terms but says the longer lease provided Ocean Tomo attractive rent plus allowances from its landlord to build out its space. The lease extension includes about 13,000 square feet that Ocean Tomo has been subleasing to communications firm Resolute Consulting LLC. Ocean Tomo recently exercised an option to end that sublease, opening up more space for future expansion. Resolute Chief Operating Officer David Smolensky says the company is searching for space for a new Chicago office. A spokeswoman for the Multi-Employer Property Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate fund that owns 200 W. Madison, declines to comment. Brokers Anthony Karmin and Corby Marx, who work in the Chicago office of Houston-based Transwestern Commercial Services LLC, represented Ocean Tomo, while Transwestern's Tamara Kos represented the landlord.
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