Monday, January 20, 2014

Sale of Trophy Chicago Walgreens Property Sets Cap Rate Record


The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, has completed the sale of a single tenant triple net leased Walgreens property located at 6121 North Broadway Street in Chicago, Illinois for $13,025,000. The property was sold at a 4.87% cap rate, the lowest cap rate ever recorded for a Walgreens property according to Real Capital Analytics.

Walgreens is the sole occupant of the 14,820 square foot retail building which was developed by Crossroads Development Partners in 2013. This brand new build-to-suit Walgreens replaces an older in-line store which was previously located on the site under a 35 year lease that was expiring in August 2015. Walgreens desired to stay at this location and benefit from a new prototype store. In the immediate vicinity, Crossroads Development Partners is currently developing a single tenant LA Fitness and a single tenant Physicians Immediate Care.

The property is located in a dense infill area of Chicago on the northeast corner of North Broadway Street and West Glenlake Avenue. There are two CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) “L” Train stops in close proximity to the property. Additionally, Loyola University is located within a few blocks of the property and there are over 358,000 people living within three miles.

“This project, which I began pursuing in 2004, is a success for all parties and is the result of a collaboration among many stakeholders including Walgreens, Mid-America Real Estate Corp., Alderman Harry Osterman and the Edgewater community.” said Michael Nortman, President of Crossroads Development Partners, LLC.  

Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, Crossroads Development Partners, in the transaction. The buyer was a Massachusetts based limited partnership in a 1031 exchange.

The Walgreens lease has over 24 years remaining with fifty years of renewal options. Walgreens is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (WAG), with a market capitalization of $56 billion. Walgreens is an investment grade rated company with a Standard & Poor’s rating of BBB and has over 8,500 locations nationwide.

“The property’s superior infill location within a core market allowed The Boulder Group to achieve a historic cap rate for this sale” said Randy Blankstein, President of The Boulder Group.  Jimmy Goodman, Partner of The Boulder Group, added, “While single tenant properties are selling in all types of locations; core markets, like Chicago, are at the forefront of investor demand.”

About The Boulder Group

The Boulder Group is a boutique investment real estate service firm specializing in single tenant net lease properties. The firm provides a full range of brokerage, advisory, and financing services nationwide to a substantial and diversified client base, which includes high net worth individuals, developers, REITs, partnerships and institutional investment funds. Founded in 1997, the firm has arranged the acquisition and disposition of over $1.6 billion of single tenant net lease real estate transactions. From 2011-2013, the firm was ranked in the top 10 companies in the nation for single tenant retail transactions by Real Capital Analytics. The Boulder Group is headquartered in suburban Chicago.

About Crossroads Development Partners

Crossroads Development Partners, LLC is a boutique commercial real estate investment, management, and development company with expertise in property operations, entitlements, construction management, financial underwriting, and development. Crossroads Development Partners is particularly focused on maintaining and creating value at the property level to maximize returns to stakeholders. The company’s hands-on approach to operating income-producing real estate differentiates Crossroads Development Partners from competitors.  Crossroads currently has over $200,000,000 in various stages of development including retail, apartments and office properties located in Florida and Illinois.