That’s the hope as the national commercial real estate firm, which boasts several offices in the Midwest, is in early talks with BGC Partners, LP., an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald.

If BGC Partners does eventually purchase Grubb & Ellis, it wouldn’t be the first time that this New York-based voice and electronic brokerage has made a splash in the commercial real estate industry. Last year, the company purchased commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank for $65.6 million in cash and stock.

Grubb & Ellis has entered into an exclusivity agreement with BGC Partners, giving the company the exclusive right to to pursue debt or equity financing, a purchase or another strategic transaction with Grubb & Ellis. The exclusivity agreement went into effect Jan. 16 and will expire Jan. 31.

Mell & Company has leased 21,880 square feet of warehouse space located at 6700 Touhy Ave. in Niles. Terrence O’Hara, senior vice president of Lee & Associates of Illinois LLC, represented building ownership, Mohawk Building LLC, and Peter Billmeyer of Chicagoland Commercial represented the tenant in the transaction.

Ellen Steinbrecher and CJ Kuehl, both principals of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented National Louis University in their lease of 11,199 square feet of office space located in the Capitol Commerce Center in Wheeling. Jason Streepy of NAI Hiffman represented building ownership in the transaction.

MKD Electric has purchased a 35,150-square-foot industrial building located at 1450 McLean Boulevard in Elgin.  John Cassidy and Ken Franzese, both principals of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented the seller, a private trust, and Bruce Granger of Grubb & Ellis represented the buyer in the transaction.

General Electric has leased 32,000 square feet located at 7521 Brush Hill Road in Burr Ridge. Brian Vanosky, principal of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented building ownership, and Brush Hill Properties and Mike Mangan of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant in the transaction.

Jim Planey and Jeff Janda, both principals of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented Coated Sand Solutions in their purchase of 28.05 acres at Ritchie Road and Steward Road in Rochelle.  Planey and Janda also represented ownership, The Boyle Family, in the transaction.

Mike Plumb, vice president of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented CM2 Properties LLC in their purchase of a 44,300-square-foot warehouse building located at 490 Windy Point Drive in Glendale Heights.

Walter Murphy, principal of Lee & Associates of Illinois, represented JMK-IIT in their lease of 86,631 square feet of industrial space located at 530 W. North Frontage Road in Bolingbrook.  Larry Johnson and Kirk Armour of CB Richard Ellis represented building ownership in the transaction.

The business park offers access to Chicago, the Midwest region and the national market given its location along one of the area’s most prominent transportation corridors.  Union Pointe is readily accessible from O’Hare International Airport, Midway Airport and DuPage County Airport thereby supporting the needs distribution, industrial and corporate office users.  The new business park offers up to 80-acres of remaining land suitable for both large build-to-suit requirements and small- to mid-sized facilities supporting custom configurations and requirements.

Union Pointe offers access and visibility for build-to-suit tenants along with competitive tax rates associated with both DuPage and Will Counties. 

Recently, Edward Don & Company, a worldwide leader in the distribution of food service equipment and supplies, selected Union Pointe as the location for its new 362,500 square-foot-office headquarters and distribution center.  The new facility is currently under construction and will be situated on a 20-acre parcel with prominent visibility along I-355 and I-55.  McShane will deliver the new build-to-suit facility to Edward Don & Company in July 2012.  Hank Cox, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Services and Bruce D. McConnell, First Vice President of Corporate Services of CB Richard Ellis represented Edward Don & Company in the 20-year lease transaction.  Brian Carroll, Senior Vice President and Jim Cummings, I-55 Corridor Industrial Group of Grubb & Ellis represented ownership.  Associated Bank is providing the financing for the Edward Don & Company project.

“McShane Development worked in partnership with land owner, Gallagher and Henry, to position this prominent land parcel as a build-to-suit opportunity for tenants seeking to upgrade or expand operations.  The timing of this launch positions Union Pointe in line with the uptick in demand for industrial and office facilities in the coming years and the Edward Don & Company transaction reflects that interest” said Daniel E. Fogarty Jr., vice president of McShane Development Company.

The Aptargroup family of companies is a leader in the global dispensing systems and consumer packaging industries.  The new location will allow Aptargroup to expand its warehouse and distribution capabilities and will support its nearby manufacturing plants in Cary and McHenry. Entre Commercial Realty worked alongside Aptargroup’s operations personnel and logistics consultants in order to identify a facility to maximize operational efficiencies at favorable economic terms. The building features 24’ clear ceilings, 20 truck docks, precast construction and an upgraded ESFR sprinkler system to accommodate the bulk storage of plastics.

Dan Benassi and Dan Jones of Entre Commercial Realty represented Aptargroup and Tyler Hardy and Anne Arnold of Grubb & Ellis represented the landlord, Cobalt Capital Partners, in the transaction.

Edward Don & Company is a nationwide distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies.  The family-owned firm, celebrating its 90^th year in business, will relocate its operations and nearly 400 employees from its current facility to their new headquarters in the Fall of 2012.

The contemporary facility will feature 55,000 square feet of office space, 32’ clear height, 38 external docks, two drive-in doors and parking to accommodate 20 trailers and 380 vehicles.  The two-story office and industrial building incorporates a modern ESFR sprinkler system and numerous sustainable features such as T-5 lighting throughout the warehouse.

The State of Illinois, County of DuPage and Village of Woodridge reached agreements that enabled Edward Don & Company to more appropriately spread the costs of the relocation, new construction and increased capital expenditures across a 20-year lease commitment in Woodridge.  “

Henry Cox, executive vice president, global corporate services and Bruce McConnell, first vice president of corporate services of CB Richard Ellis represented Edward Don & Company in the 20-year lease transaction.  Brian Carroll, senior vice president and James Cummings, associate vice president of Grubb & Ellis represented owners, McShane Development Company and Gallagher and Henry.  Associated Bank is providing the financing for the project.

The design/build team of McShane Construction Company and Ware Malcomb Architects has been selected to provide the design and construction services for this sizable build-to-suit project.

The 114,900-square-foot industrial building was built in 1963. It features three docks, two drive-in doors and 13-foot to 17-foot clear ceiling heights.

Terry Coyne with Grubb & Ellis represented the lessor, DonDa. David Sternberg of MetroSpace Realty represented Starmax Resources.

According to the Grubb & Ellis market report, 2011 ranks as a turnaround year for the metro Detroit industrial market, as the region continues to recover from the impact of the dramatic decline in the local automotive industry between 2008 and 2010.

As Grubb & Ellis reports, as this recovery occurs, the overall city industrial market should benefit. To support this argument, Grubb & Ellis points to the four consecutive quarters of positive net absorption totaling more than 4 million square feet that the Detroit market has seen.

The Detroit industrial market vacancy rate was 14.9 percent at the end of the third quarter, down 20 basis points from the previous quarter.

According to the report, the Macomb submarket had a healthy third quarter as its vacancy rate fell 70 basis points to 10.5 percent.

The region as a whole posted more than 839,000 square feet of positive net absorption in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date positive absorption total to about 3.5 million square feet.

General industrial properties accounted for the majority of the third quarter’s positive absorption, posting gains of nearly 628,000 square feet, while warehouse/distribution properties saw about 276,000 square feet absorbed. Incubator properties recorded more than 8,000 square feet of positive net absorption, while R&D/flex space was the only property type to witness negative net absorption of nearly 72,000 square feet.

The Macomb submarket led in positive net absorption, posting gains of nearly 500,000 square feet.

Grubb & Ellis' Tom D'Arcy

No one’s saying anything outside of official statements, but it appears that Grubb & Ellis is becoming more aggressive in its efforts to find a buyer or merger candidate for its financially troubled commercial brokerage.

Last year was a rough one for Grubb & Ellis. The national brokerage — which boasts a strong presence in the Midwest — lost $67 million.

According to an official statement released by Grubb & Ellis, New York’s C-III Capital Partners and an affiliate of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Colony Capital LLC have entered into negotiations with Grubb & Ellis.

C-III Capital is an intriguing partner in these negotiations. The company is an affiliate of New York City’s Island Capital Gropu LLC, headed by Andrew Farkas. Farkas knows how to close deals; he is the former chairman and chief exective officer of Insignia Financial Group.

“Grubb & Ellis is a long-time leader in the real estate industry and we share management’s vision of strengthening the platform and growing the company,” Farkas was quoted in Grubb & Ellis’ official statement. “C-III Capital Partners and Colony have the capital base and industry expertise necessary to bolster Grubb & Ellis’ client offerings and position the company for long-term success.”

This latest announcement provides further evidence that Grubb & Ellis is boosting its efforts to either sell the company or find a suitable partner for a merger.

Earlier this year, in March, Grubb & Ellis hired JMP Securities as an adviser charged to explore merger and buy-out opportunities.

The company has already shed some of its business units, notably its TIC Business — known as Daymark Realty Advisors — and its Alesco Global Advisors unit. Analysts have viewed these moves as key ones as Grubb & Ellis prepares for a sale or merger.

Thomas D’Arcy, president and chief executive officer of Grubb & Ellis, said that the negotiations with C-III and Colony could result in a stronger brokerage.

“We look forward to working with C-III and Colony to complete a transaction which offers broad benefits to our professionals and platform. A transaction with these two highly regarded firms would provide the scale for us to more efficiently and effectively serve our clients and broker-dealer partners,” D’Arcy said in Grubb’s statement.

C. Michael Kojaian, also in a statement, said that he, too, expected the relationship betweeen Grubb & Ellis, C-III and Colony to be a fruitful one.

“This announcement is very positive for Grubb & Ellis employees, clients and stakeholders,” Kojaian said. “C-III Capital Partners and Colony Capital are highly regarded multi-faceted organizations with deep expertise and involvement in the commercial real estate industry. Partnering with these firms offers significant growth opportunities for Grubb & Ellis.”

This move isn’t the last time that Farkas and C-III have made news in the Midwest. Last summer, Farkas announced that C-III Capital Partners was set to acquire NAI Global, a company that operates several brokerages throughout the Midwest. This transaction, though, has not yet closed, and C-III isn’t saying anything about when it eventually will.

Grubb & Ellis sold the space known as Unit No. 2, totalling 198,000 square feet, to Stuart Lichter and Chris Semarjian, dba Lena Commerce, for $1.7 million.

The former Lucas Aerospace Facility was built in 1989. It sits on 28.37 acres.

Terry Coyne of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller, PB IL OREO, LLC.

Headquartered in Germany, Lenze is a world-wide specialist in drive and automation technology offers products, solutions, systems and services for mechanical and electronic drives as well as complete automation systems from a single source.

Constructed in 1995, 125 Wall Street is a 100,377-square-foot free-standing facility. Located in the High Grove West Business Park in Glendale Heights, the cross-docked building features over 6,000 amps of power, 30’ clear ceiling height, 7 exterior docks, and 1 drive-in door. Significant work has been started on both interior and exterior renovations.

Matt Mulvihill of Grubb and Ellis represented Lenze in this lease transaction.