Dec. 05--The owner of the Shops at North Bridge on North Michigan Avenue has bought an adjacent parcel the size of a city block, county records show, leading some real estate watchers to wonder if an expansion of the mall will follow.
Macerich, a Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust that owns the Nordstrom-anchored mall at 520 N. Michigan Ave., paid $42 million for the 65,000-square-foot parcel at 441 N. Wabash St., which until recently was the site of the Lakeshore Athletic Club. The gym was razed in August and the parking lot there is being expanded to fill the site.
While Macerich did not respond to requests for comment, the acquisition has the real estate community buzzing about the potential for the mall's expansion. It comes two years after Macerich bought the office building at 500 N. Michigan Ave., just south of the mall.
"Between this property and 500 N. Michigan, Macerich is being extremely aggressive with this asset by adding such significant components to North Bridge," said David Stone, president of Stone Real Estate. "It will be very interesting to see if their plans for this acquisition will include another anchor department store to join Nordstrom."
Crain's previously reported that Macerich was poised to buy the property.
Macerich bought the Wabash Avenue property from a consortium that includes BDT Capital Markets, Zeller Realty Group and Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkowsky. The group acquired it in 2011 as part of its $33 million purchase of the Wrigley Building. Plans to redevelop the parcel along with the National Association of Realtors headquarters at 430 N. Michigan Ave. fell through this year.
Macerich, which bought the Shops at North Bridge in 2008, owns several properties on streets adjacent to the mall, including the site of Eataly, at Ohio Street and Wabash.
Real estate brokers applauded the new acquisition.
"I think it's absolutely brilliant," said Stanley Nitzberg, principal at Mid-America Real Estate. "I think it's be bold or go home. It's great news for the Avenue that these kinds of investments can be made."
Luke Molloy, a broker with Cushman and Wakefield, said Macerich has helped transform "that entire part of River North," so it made sense for it not to cede a city block to another buyer. In addition, he said, the company's extensive retail portfolio in other markets gives it leverage to lure national retail tenants that might not otherwise opt for an off-Michigan Avenue location.
"They will be able to execute upon the most ambitious retailcentric plan due to the concentration of their holdings in the immediate area," he said.
aelejalderuiz@tribune.com
