A big investor is thinking beyond the food store. At a time when most retail real estate investors prefer the security of grocery-anchored shopping centers, a unit of the Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. has paid $24.4 million for eight buildings with 82,453 square feet between them in the Freedom Commons complex in Naperville.
The price is hefty, at nearly $296 a square foot for the properties, at Freedom Drive and Interstate 88.
Tenants include four free-standing restaurants: Morton’s Steakhouse; Maggiano’s Little Italy; White Chocolate Grill, which serves contemporary American food; and Zapatista, which features regional Mexican cuisine.
“It’s both a daytime and night-time destination,” said Mark Cosenza, vice president of acquisitions for Oak Brook-based Inland, adding that the property Inland bought is 95 percent leased. Mr. Conseza confirmed the price of the deal.
Four multi-tenant buildings were also included in the deal, leased to an Athletico physical therapy outlet and a Scottrade branch, among others. The buyer was Inland Private Capital Corp., which represents individual investors, sources said.
The transaction does not include the Cooper’s Hawk restaurant in the complex, which is separately owned. A building leased to LA Fitness is also owned separately. The Fidelity branch at Freedom Commons was not part of the acquisition either.
The seller was developer William Krug, president of Lemont-based Wm. Krug Inc., who built the complex in phases, starting in 2006.
He declined to comment on the profitability of the deal, but noted that he retained two vacant lots in the complex.
Chad Firsel, president of Chicago-based Quantum Real Estate Advisors Inc., and Daniel Waszak, senior vice president at the firm, brokered the sale.