L3 Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm focused on institutional-grade urban retail properties, recently purchased four properties for $13 million on Southport Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
The transaction marks L3’s first foray into the Chicago investment market. Formed three years ago in Chicago by former investment professionals from Transwestern, Vornado Realty Trust and RREFF, the firm has been steadily active in the New York and Los Angeles markets.
“Chicago will be an important part of L3’s strategy moving forward,” said Greg Schott, co-founder and managing principal of L3. “We were attracted to this deal because of the strength of this retail corridor. The properties on Southport represent the type of deals that we are looking for – quality retail assets in prime urban locations.”
Located at 3430 N., 3442-46 N., 3447-49 N. and 3550-56 N. Southport Ave. and encompassing 28,000 square feet, the purchased properties are 100 percent leased and house retailers such as Lululemon, Southport Grocery, Homemade Pizza Co., Free People and Southport Athletic Club. The deal also included eight residential apartments.
The Southport corridor is a heavily trafficked retail market in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood and also includes locations for Anthropologie, Bluemercury and Athleta. The Gap recently announced its plans to locate to the corridor as well.
L3 Capital, which stands for the age old real estate adage “location, location, location,” focuses on retail assets in the $5 million to $50 million price range. The firm’s portfolio includes single tenant, multi-tenant and mixed-use properties.
For the past three years, L3 has been active on the East and West Coast, completing several deals in high-end urban markets. Its most recent deal was a 42,000-square-foot property in New York’s SoHo neighborhood that fetched a price of $41.5 million. The firm also did a two-property, $20 million deal on North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.
In Chicago, the firm is targeting the Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Bucktown neighborhoods, as well as main retail corridors such as State Street and Michigan Avenue.
