Investor Closes $16M Deal on Wicker Park Retail Buildings

A Chicago real estate investor paid $16.2 million for a slew of prominent properties in Wicker Park, pushing rents higher, Chicago Real Estate Daily reports.

Newcastle Ltd. purchased the approximately 28,000-square-foot portfolio of five buildings, including a two-story building at 1455 N. Milwaukee Ave. and four retail spaces at 1519-1529 N. Milwaukee Ave., CRED writes.

The buildings are all currently leased out and home to retailers like Urban Outfitters, Citibank and G-Star Raw. They will join the roughly 88,000-square-feet of retail Newcastle owns in the Wicker Park area.

Newcastle representatives told reporter Micah Maidenberg they have no immediate plans for changes at the buildings because the business all still have leases for several more years. However, with rent as high as $85 a square foot in the area, costs at the spaces will surely rise.

The real estate investor also recently shook things up in both Lake View and Andersonville.

In December Newcastle purchased an entire block of properties on North Broadway Street. That site is currently under construction to give a facelift to the group of storefronts.

They also purchased Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) former building in Andersonville. It’s home to his restaurant Ann Sather, which will close at the end of the year.