Shapack to Sell Development Site Near Bally’s Chicago Casino

Shapack Partners is looking to cash out on a development site next to Bally’s planned $1.7 billion casino complex, possibly attracting a swarm of investors looking to capitalize on the highly anticipated casino project.

Jeff Shapack’s firm has hired JLL brokers to sell the 58,600-square-foot industrial building at 611 North Union Avenue, playing it up as a prime redevelopment opportunity, CoStar reported.

The site is across from a Shapack’s mixed-use development that’s slated for 2,269 apartments and a 141-key hotel.

Shapack purchased the site for $9 million in 2018. It’s unclear how much the firm expects to make in a sale.

JLL is emphasizing the potential to collect rent from the existing warehouse tenant in the short term, while leasing the rest of the building or planning a larger structure on the site. Current zoning and density bonuses allow for a high-rise development, spanning 366,000 square feet, on just over an acre of land.

The building is partially leased to the Auto Club Group on a below-market lease that expires in less than five years. A new owner could increase the property’s value by leasing to tenants at higher rates.

Despite concerns about the feasibility of Bally’s casino project, the area is poised for significant transformation. Just north of the proposed casino site, Canadian developer Onni Group is planning a pair of $1 billion projects that will yield over 5,000 apartments, a hotel, office space, retail and entertainment. In addition, developers are eyeing the former Blommer Chocolate plant site at 600 West Kinzie Street for a residential high-rise development.

As the planned casino turns nearby properties into prime real estate, other landlords are looking to cash out. Monroe Residential Partners, for instance, sold a 36-unit apartment building in the area last year for $11 million, or almost $310,000 per unit.

—Quinn Donoghue