Clear Height Properties/Buligo Capital Partners JV Completes Acquisition of 814 Commerce Drive
Company plans repositioning effort to bring new energy to Oak Brook office building
A Clear Height Properties/Buligo Capital Partners JV has announced the acquisition and planned repositioning of 814 Commerce Drive in the eastern East West Corridor. Clear Height acquired the office building from Elliott Management for an undisclosed purchase price.
This is the second acquisition made by the Clear Height Properties/Buligo Capital Partners joint venture.
The property at 814 Commerce sits on 7.53 acres, consists ofa three-story 171,933-square-foot office building and includes a two-level parking deck with additional surface parking. Built in 1990, the office building features a dramatic atrium lobby.
“This was an acquisition that we got very excited about,” says Gary Rose, Managing Director, Asset Management & Acquisitions, Clear Height Properties. “It’s a well-located, quality-constructed building within a market that draws strong tenant interest. We have engaged Gensler to help us modernize and energize the exterior and common areas of the building and believe strongly that the final product will draw strong interest from tenants as we lease the remaining vacancy.”
The building was marketed for sale by Art Burrows, Senior Vice President; James Adler, Executive Vice President; and Dan O’Neill, Executive Vice President, all with NAI Hiffman. Clear Height has named NAI Hiffman to be the exclusive marketing and property management representative for the property.
According to Rose, through Clear Height’s Project & Development Services (PDS) team, a variety of improvements are being planned for the building.
Those improvements will include renovation and repositioning of the exterior façade, building entryway, lobby and common area spaces, as well as exterior grounds and landscaping. This work will revitalize the building and create a level of quality that will differentiate it from other competitive buildings in the immediate vicinity.
Currently, the building is occupied by IRC, a commercial real estate firms that leases approximately 43,000 square feet of space and Innovista Health, a healthcare firm that leases approximately 41,000 square feet of space. DeVry, which leases the entire second floor totaling approximately 66,500 square feet, will be relocating.
“This creates a unique opportunity for a large tenant to consolidate all their operations on all or a portion of the 66,000 square foot floor,” Rose says. “This is a rare opportunity in the market overall and especially in such close proximity to all the amenities Oakbrook Center provides.”
In addition to that space there are a few available ground floor suites that are available in the 4,700 to 8,500-square-foot range.
The building at 814 Commerce is located one half mile east of Oakbrook Mall, and in close proximity to numerous other amenities including restaurants, retail and entertainment venues as well as hotels. Additionally, a significant village center development is under construction nearby, at 22nd Street and Spring Road. The building also benefits from its proximity to I-294 and I-88, which provides for a quick commute from numerous Chicagoland residential communities, such as Oak Brook, Hinsdale, Western Spring and Burr Ridge, as well as quick access to and from Chicago’s O’Hare International and Midway International Airports.
Last July, the Clear Height Properties and Israel-based Buligo Capital Ltd. Joint venture acquired the 354,000-square-foot headquarters, manufacturing and distribution facility in Kenosha, Wisc. That constructed for and fully leased to Kenall Lighting, Inc. The acquisition of the Core Plus headquarters and industrial facility represented an expanding acquisition philosophy for Clear Height Properties.
Clear Height is establishing a reputation for acquiring buildings that are well-located but haven’t previously had the focused attention or capital improvements necessary to keep them competitive in the marketplace. In Summer 2018, Clear Height acquired the 214,767 square-foot, multi-story office building that sits on 10 acres at 2625 Butterfield Road in Oak Brook. Clear Height recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of that property in an effort to add distinctive amenities and to complete a comprehensive modernization of the asset that will differentiate the product in the market.