Andersonville Commercial Real Estate: Retail Neighborhood Mom-and-Pops Resilient in the Face of Recession

This month we’re taking a look at commercial investment real estate in Chicago’s Andersonville retail corridor, which runs along Clark Street, approximately from Foster to Bryn Mawr. Like many of the urban retail strips on Chicago’s North Side (Southport in Lakeview, Halsted/Armitage in Lincoln Park and Damen Avenue in Bucktown/Wicker Park), Andersonville has seen commercial rents and property values soar in recent years. But unlike those corridors, Andersonville hasn’t experienced an influx of national retailers, save for Starbucks and a small (8 locations) burger franchise called Hamburger Mary’s. Furthermore, Andersonville doesn’t have the infrastructure advantages of Southport, Damen or Armitage. There’s no direct ‘L’ access, parking is abysmal, and it’s far from the Loop.

That makes Andersonville somewhat of an enigma. With a mix of almost 100% mom-and-pop retailers, Andersonville has maintained retail rents in the $25-to-$30-per-square-foot range for in-line space and the $40-to-$45-per-square-foot range for corner space. In addition, occupancy levels have remained stable despite the economy.

For this reason commercial investment property in Andersonville has begun to attract serious money. Case in point: last year, we represented local investors, RayMark Venture LLC, in the $22.5 million sale of a multi-building retail/mixed use portfolio. (RayMark nearly doubled its investment in just five years). The buyer was a $500-million institutional-advisory fund targeting urban retail real estate in Chicago.

One could argue that Andersonville is supported by a fiercely loyal resident base, but the reality is that its shops and restaurants could not survive on neighborhood traffic alone. So what’s the key to Andersonville’s urban retail success, and why has the neighborhood’s commercial real estate held up so well in a down economy? Holler at us if you have an opinion.

Peter Lynn & Dan Rosenberg
		Building Equity Commercial Real Estate Web:: buildingequityre.com Email:: solutions@buildingequityre.com Phone:: 773.292.5188

Comments

[laurent kanago]

Edgewater has a strong and constructive chamber of commerce as well as a tight-knit residential base as John Beck above has mentioned. Edgewater also has a sustainability plan called the Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Plan to retrofit residential and commmercial buildings.

[association management software]

Its really a good news for the people living there especially if they have commercial retail business. Just imagine in years time this place will be one of the major key players in the real estate business.

[Mark A.Kishtow]

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this bad economic wave and how it will affect this neighborhood. My name is Mark A. Kishtow, I’m with Jameson commercial Real Estate here in Chicago, I recently sold the building located at 5245 N. Clark, the south west corner of Clark and Berwyn, 35000sf building, including the usable lower level.

[john beck]

Andersonville is supported by a fiercely loyal resident base, but the reality is that its shops and restaurants could not survive on neighborhood traffic alone.Pretty interesting though. You even have track backs at the bottom.