Core Acquisitions Pays $34M for Chicago-Area Shopping Center

Core Acquisitions has purchased Rice Lake Square, a 251,584-square-foot shopping center in Wheaton, Ill. The company purchased the asset for $34.2 million, with the help of a $24 million loan provided by Old National Bank, according to public records.

Grosvenor previously owned the value-add, grocery-anchored shopping center, CommercialEdge data shows. The firm had purchased Rice Lake Square two decades ago for $43.9 million.

Mid-America Real Estate Corp. brokered the transaction, with Principals Rick Drogosz and Stan Nitzberg from the Investment Sales Group working on behalf of the seller.

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At the time of the sale, Rice Lake Square was 76.2 percent leased. The tenant roster includes a diverse mix of retailers such as Pete’s Market, Studio Movie Grill, PetSmart, Orange Theory Fitness, Pure Barre, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Honey Jam, Taco Bell, State Farm and Massage Envy, among others.

Located at 1 Rice Lake Square, the retail center is within Chicago’s Western East-West Corridor submarket. It is also situated off Butterfield Road and roughly 27 miles from Chicago.

Chicago retail demand surges

Mid-America has also arranged the largest transaction in Chicago’s retail market in the first quarter of this year. The brokerage company represented DRA Advisors in the $74.6 million acquisition of a 649,668-square-foot, open-air regional center in Orland Park, Ill.

Chicago’s retail market is experiencing its highest level of demand since 2017, according to a recent Lee & Associates report. Over the past year, demand for retail space in the metro increased by 1.9 million square feet. In the first quarter of 2024, the availability rate in Chicago decreased further to under 6 percent, reaching a record low.