In brief: 5 Guys grows | Expensive parking | Harrison St. storage JV

By Staff, June 26, 2009

Burger chain plans 2nd Lincoln Park site

Five Guys Burgers & Fries plans to open a restaurant at the high-profile corner of Clark and Fullerton streets in Lincoln Park, replacing a shuttered Ritz Camera store. Five Guys, known for its wide array of hamburger toppings, plans to occupy 3,389 square feet in the Clark Fullerton Building, 2368 N. Clark St., which has been vacant since February when Ritz’s parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Lorton, Va.-based Five Guys, which opened its first location 22 years ago in Arlington, Va., already has one location in Lincoln Park, 2140 N. Clybourn Ave., and is planning another in the Morgan at Loyola Station apartment building, near the Red Line CTA station at Sheridan Road and Loyola Avenue. Five Guys already has restaurants in west suburban Naperville and Oak Park and is looking at locations in Orland Park, Bloomingdale, Mount Prospect and Schaumburg, a spokeswoman says.

Chicago parking costs more than double U.S. average: survey

Chicago ranks fifth in a survey of parking rates in 64 U.S. cities, with a median daily rate of $31 and a median monthly cost of $325, according to a survey from Colliers International. Midtown Manhattan ranked first, with a median monthly parking rate of $550, followed by $500 in downtown Manhattan, $403 in Boston and $350 in San Francisco. Nationwide, monthly parking rates decreased about 1% this year to $154.23, compared with 2008, while Chicago's monthly rate rose 5% vs. a year ago, according to the survey.

Galvin-backed real estate firm in self-storage deal

An affiliate of Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC has agreed to pay $62.4 million in return for an 80% stake in a portfolio of 42 self-storage properties owned by Extra Space Storage Inc. Extra Space, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and one of the nation’s largest self-storage owners and operators, says in a news release that as part of the joint-venture deal with Harrison Street the company will continue to manage the properties. The deal, which involves properties located in Illinois, California, Florida and 12 other states, is expected to close later this year. The joint venture assumes an existing $213-million mortgage that comes due in six years and has an interest rate of 5.3%, according to research firm Green Street Advisors Inc. Harrison Street, co-founded by former Motorola Inc. Chairman and CEO Christopher Galvin, owns about 42,000 self-storage units nationwide.

First Industrial debt rating cut

Moody’s Investor Service cut the ratings on $1.7 billion of Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust debt and revised its outlook to negative from stable, meaning a future change would likely be another downgrade. Moody’s last week announced it was lowering the rating, already non-investment grade or “junk,” two levels, to Ba3 from Ba1. The credit rating agency said the industrial property owner’s performance is likely to decline throughout the year due to the global economic slowdown.

Mobile home REIT sells $127 million in stock

Manufactured housing park owner Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc. on Tuesday raised $127.2 million through a stock sale, apparently abandoning plans to obtain a $200-million credit facility from Fannie Mae because of the lender’s tougher loan requirements, according to a report from Green Street Advisors Inc. Fannie Mae has tightened underwriting standards for both apartments and manufactured housing, raising coverage ratios, the research firm says in a report. Such ratios measure a borrower’s ability to repay a loan by comparing cash flow to debt service. Equity Lifestyle’s stock was priced at $33.35 a share.