The Georgetown Company has acquired 35 North State Street, a 60,000-square-foot building on the corner of Washington Street in Chicago, for $23 million. The building is currently net-leased to Old Navy and serves as the retailers’ Chicago flagship.
The $511 per square foot is a reported record for a State Street retail site.
The New York-based real estate company was represented by Robert K. 
Futterman & Associates (RKF) in the transaction.
RKF Chairman & CEO Robert K. Futterman, Executive Vice President Ariel Schuster and Director Brian Segall represented the buyer. President & Principal Owner Eric Maletsky of Malet Realty, Ltd. represented the seller, South East Corner Associates.
The Georgetown Company has extensive retail development experience in markets across the county, and has developed, owned and overseen more than 20-million square feet of office, residential, retail and recreational projects.
The property on State Street was appealing to the firm executives because they believe the Chicago market is on the upswing, says RKF’s Schuster.
“This is affirmation of the Chicago market coming back,” said Schuster. “From macro standpoint, retailers are focusing on urban location and there is a lot of demand in core markets.”
The State Street corridor has taken its lumps during the recession, most notably with the impending foreclosure sale of the 280,000-square-foot, mostly vacant, Block 37 project.
However, recent activity has boosted the long-term outlook for the market. In February, Target announced its plans to open a 124,000-square-foot “City Target” at 1 S. State Street.
RKF’s Segall says that the announcement of Target did not change the dynamics of Georgetown’s purchase, but that it “confirmed our belief in the viability of the market.”
The developer has not hinted as to what the future of the property may hold, but Schuster says that Georgetown was drawn to the fact that it was a single tenant structure.
The Georgetown Company is a privately-held diversified real estate company founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York.
