Karin Kraai

Consulting services will include developing and implementing strategies for OREO bank office asset portfolios that need to be repositioned and leased for a hold or disposition strategy; advisory groups working on receivership and sublease portfolios; distressed asset work-outs, and unique office leasing and marketing challenges.

Forest Partners Real Estate has formed a strategic alliance with RE/Solutions (a partnership between Realogic and Siegel-Gallagher) which provides services and turn-around solutions for distressed real estate ranging from receivership, asset/property management and leasing, to asset dispositions.

“As a result of the economy, many organizations are facing major challenges, and are frequently understaffed,” said Kraai in a statement. “In the 2001 recession cycle, the economy lost 2 percent of its jobs and took four years to get them back.  This time, more than 5 percent of jobs have been lost, and employers remain reluctant to hire back full-time employees.   They are now relying on consultants with the critical skills and experience necessary to quickly step-in to assess and solve the problem for a company without adding the cost of full-time salaries and benefits.”

Kraai has almost 25 years of real estate experience, including stints as an executive at Merchandise Mart Properties and Jones Lang LaSalle.  Ms. Kraai has served in the role of both player and coach, driving the performance of office portfolios in excess of seven million square feet and valued at over $2 billion.  She has closed over 3.7 million square feet of transactions valued in excess of $1 billion; and repositioned and re-branded assets providing  both short and long term added value for her clients.

Joyce Slone

Lee A. Daniels, formerly of Lee Daniels & Associates LLC, and Joyce M. Slone, SIOR, CCIM, formerly of Slone Commercial LLC, announced that they have formed Daniels Slone LLC and will specialize in brokerage, investment and advisory services for land and building owners, tenants, investors and developers in the commercial sector of the Chicago regional market.

Lee A. Daniels, founder and owner of Lee Daniels & Associates LLC, is an attorney, commercial real estate broker and former Illinois Representative. Daniels retired in 2006 from the Chicago law firm of Bell Boyd & Lloyd, where he was an equity partner. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, and was Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1997. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust Inc. He is an active member of the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of Realtors (NICAR).

Daniels is a member of the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Healthcare Board of Trustees and the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Board of Governors. He also volunteers as chairman of the Seguin Services Capital Campaign and is on the Elim Christian Capital Campaign Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and earned a law degree from John Marshall Law School. He has received numerous honors including an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Elmhurst College, where he is an adjunct professor.

Joyce M. Slone, SIOR, CCIM, founder and owner of Slone Commercial LLC, is a 30-year veteran in the commercial real estate industry and has completed sale and lease transactions totaling over $415 million. Prior to forming Slone Commercial in 2004, Joyce was the director of portfolio leasing for Northern Builders Inc.

Slone is an active member of the Association of Industrial Real Estate, and Northern Illinois Commercial Association of Realtors. Slone attended Elmhurst College and has served as Commissioner of the City of Elmhurst’s Zoning and Planning Committee since 2004.

Daniels Slone LLC, headquartered in Elmhurst, is a full-service real estate firm providing comprehensive brokerage services to land and building owners, tenants, investors and developers in the commercial sector of the Chicago regional market. For further information, visit www.daniels-slone.com.

Scardino comes to Lee from Affinity Commercial Real Estate, where he was the founder and president. He also had extensive experience at Grubb & Ellis, where he spent nine years as one of its top retail brokers in the Chicago region. During his tenure at Grubb & Ellis Scardino ranked second nationally within the company’s retail division and among the company’s top 25 brokers in the nation (from 1,000 brokers nationally) in 2002.

With a strong background in restaurant projects and land sales, Scardino spent 20 years in family-owned restaurants prior to entering the commercial real estate field. He is a charter member and past president of the Chicagoland Restaurant Brokers Association (CRBA).

“Rick had already had a long-term relationship with many of the brokers in our office. It goes back to his Grubb days. So his presence here at Lee is a huge plus for us,” said Jeff Galante, principal and co-founder of Lee & Associates of Illinois, in a statement. “We’ve never really had a retail division in Chicago so it made sense to hire the best for the job. And Rick was it. He’s well respected in the industry.”

Scardino is a graduate of Bradley University. He is a board member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) State Board and has been a featured speaker at ICSC events.

Michael’s Fresh Market, a leading independent grocer in the Chicago area, signed a 56,118-square-foot lease at the Shops at Coopers Grove in Country Club Hills, Ill. Michael’s Fresh Market will replace a former Eagle Grocer. Tampico Fresh Market, owned by a local grocer who has been in business over 20 years, signed a 45,000-square-foot lease in Oliver Square located in West Chicago, Ill. This will be Tampico’s second location in West Chicago.

“By securing new grocery tenants for these two locations in West Chicago and Country Club Hills, we are fulfilling a need in the community while revitalizing these centers with new anchor tenants,” said Jeff Howard, vice president and senior leasing representative, in a statement. “Grocery-anchored shopping centers consistently perform through all economic cycles, and these value-based independent grocers saw an opportunity to expand into well-located shopping centers with high visibility. Adding grocers to these centers will increase foot traffic and serve as a draw for additional retail tenants.”

Shops at Coopers Grove is a 72,518-square-foot shopping center located at 4044-4112 West 183rd Street in Country Club Hills, Ill. Oliver Square is located at 1935 Neltnor in West Chicago, Ill. and totals over 200,000 square feet.

The company reported that leasing activity in the first quarter of 2010 increased 138 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Leasing from the first of the year totaled 134,824 square feet, compared to 56,754 square feet in the first quarter of 2009. Nine leasing agreements included four new leases, three renewals and two expansions.

“The trend toward positive absorption continued through the quarter,” said Brad Butler, senior leasing representative for Liberty in Minnesota. “Many companies have been reluctant to make decisions regarding their space for the last 18 months, and some of the tenants that weathered the recession best are now looking to expand their current spaces or upgrade their locations. We continue to be encouraged heading into the spring and summer months.”

CPD Feather Rock purchased a two-unit retail center occupied by long-term leases T-Mobile and Qdoba in St. Charles, Ill. In a separate agreement, Avenir Publishing completed an office lease that will relocate its business to a building at 180 N. Wabash in Chicago. Both arrangements were executed by Titan Commercial principal Ben Rosenfield.

In a 1031 tax exchange, CPD Feather Rock purchased 2710 E. Main Street in St. Charles. The freestanding retail building totaling 4,083 square feet was previously owned by sellers Shiner Group and Hilco Real Estate. Rosenfield negotiated on behalf of buyer CPD Feather Rock in the investment sales transaction. The property was purchased for $1.9 million.

Avenir Publishing, whose publications include “Design, Develop, Construct” and “Strategize”, will be occupying their new 3,941-square-foot location on May 8. While working with Marc Realty, owners of the property, Rosenfield represented tenant Avenir Publishing and helped execute the lease agreement in just four months.

Debt for the first mortgage loan was provided by a regional portfolio lending institution.

Midwest Mobile Home Park consists of 120 home sites on 14.78 acres of land located in Independence, and is about 10 miles east of Kansas City. The park features an in-ground swimming pool, playground and a resident manager. Each lot is improved with municipal water and sewer service.

Ferrelwood Mobile Home Park consists of 105 home sites and one single-family home. The property was constructed in the 1970s, and is situated on 17 acres of land in Ferrelview, Mo., which is about 20 miles north of Kansas City.

Both communities are considered two-star parks.

Each year, Forbes publishes its list of the most miserable cities. This year, Cleveland topped the list as the most miserable metropolis in the United States. The Forbes report pointed to unemployment, weather, poorly performing sports teams, high taxes and corrupt politicians.

Gustafson, a senior vice president at Colliers Ostendorf-Morris in Cleveland, takes offense at the Forbes report. Cleveland is a wonderful place in which to live and do business, he says. It offers a wealth of museums and attractions. It is the center of a booming healthcare industry. And it boasts a low cost-of-living. Besides, the Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA and Lebron James. That doesn’t sound like a miserable sports landscape.

“Cleveland gets a bad rap,” Gustafson said. “Forbes had no business calling it the most miserable city in the country. I don’t think they actually talked to people who live in Cleveland. The people who move here tend to stay here and never leave. This city has so much to offer, and it does it at a great cost-of-living.”

Like most major Midwest cities, Cleveland has suffered during the Great Recession. But there isn’t a metro area across the United States that hasn’t felt the economic slowdown’s impact.

But Gustafson, and other commercial real estate pros interviewed for this story, said that Cleveland is actually holding its own as far as the commercial real estate market is concerned. Things aren’t great, but they’re not dismal, either.

And in today’s economy, that’s about the best anyone can hope for.

“We have seen a lot of activity over the last several months,” said Dan Cooper, broker and president of Cooper Commercial Investments Group. “Last year was a down year for most people. But this year, things have picked up. More people are interested in making deals. We can gauge the interest level, and we see that it is picking up. People had been sitting on the sidelines, but a lot of these people are now starting to realize that this might be a great opportunity to acquire different assets that they hadn’t been able to acquire during the busier times.”

An uptick in activity

George Pofok, vice president of Cleveland’s Cresco Real Estate, said that he’s already seen a slight up-tick in commercial activity in 2010.

Pofok pointed to alternative energy as one of the surprisingly strong commercial markets in the city. His company is involved in the early phases of possibly selling a small parcel of land to a company in the wind turbine industry, Pofok said. He also cited the healthcare industry as faring well, even in this down economy.

The success of healthcare here isn’t a surprise: Cleveland is home to the Cleveland Clinic and to the well-regarded University Hospitals medical facilities. The city is also developing the massive Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center project, which proponents say will help revitalize the city’s convention center and a good portion of its downtown business district.

Of course, Cleveland is only truly successful when its industrial base is performing well. This sector has struggled during the recession. But there are signs that it has weathered the slow times better than the industrial markets in other cities, Pofok said.

Cresco has reported the overall vacancy rate in Cleveland’s industrial market to be about 8.1 percent. That is below the national average for industrial. In 2009, the city saw about 1.1 million square feet of new owner-occupied industrial construction, Pofok said. But there was no speculative industrial construction during the year, he said.

The big challenge facing developers in Cleveland, as it is across the country, is a lack of available financing, Pofok said.

“That is the real hard question,” he said. “The traditional banks are still holding onto their dollars and cents until their balance sheets get cleaned up. Developers are going to have to look at other means than the traditional lender to see projects get off the ground.”

Pofok cited life-insurance companies and union pension funds as some of these other alternative sources of financing. But until the banks start lending again, the city won’t see a significant amount of new development, Pofok said.

There are challenges in Cleveland’s downtown, too. The city had been trying to revitalize its downtown when the recession hit. That has slowed these efforts. It has also left several vacancies in the downtown office market, Pofok said. There is hope, though: The Flats area of downtown Cleveland, the city’s artsy side, has attracted some investment and interest, Pofok said.

Looking ahead, Pofok said, vacancy rates will probably continue to rise in all commercial sectors during much of 2010. After that, though, the market should stabilize and begin to grow again, Pofok said.

“I think there is some pent-up demand in some of the market sectors,” Pofok said. “There are folks out there who do have cash. They are going to want to take advantage of the opportunities in 2010 that are coming.”

Activity on the waterfront

In December of 2009, the Cleveland – Cuyahoga County Port Authority earned approval from the City of Cleveland Planning Commission for its conceptual plans for an ambitious lakefront improvement plan.

The plan calls for improving access to the city’s lakefront, developing new lakefront residential and commercial developments and bringing the residents of Cleveland to its waterfront area.

Eric Johnson, real estate director with the port authority, said that the hope is to break ground on the project in two to three years.

“The intent is to have public access first. This isn’t just about real estate,” Johnson said. “It’s about creating a new street grid and adding parks and promenades. We are committed to having this all open to the public by 2012.”

Cooper, from Cooper Commercial Investments Group, also has hopes that Cleveland’s downtown rejuvenation might perk up again as the economy gradually recovers.

“There is a kick to get the downtown area going again,” Cooper said. “There is a lot of interest in the Flats and in Midtown. There are the plans for the convention center. There’s even talk of casinos. People thought a lot of this was going to take place a few years ago. It was all halted in its tracks, of course, when the recession hit. There were a lot of public and private owners who were well funded and were making it their goal to do different projects. They all got stopped in their tracks. Their attention was diverted elsewhere. Now we are seeing that interest come back again.”

Cleveland’s downtown has never been one where people congregate after the work day ends, Cooper said. It’s never been a lifestyle-center downtown.

City officials, though, want this to change. They want to see people spending time at downtown restaurants and entertainment venues. They want to see them spending time walking the streets after Cleveland Indians games.

“Cleveland’s downtown has always been a place where people come in to see a game or a play and then head back home,” Cooper said. “It never has had the retailers or the grocery stores for people to shop at. It will be nice to see if Cleveland can pull it off downtown and develop the lakefront area.”