A Pilsen office landlord just bought some breathing room after a rocky stretch with its lender.
Condor Partners secured financing to resolve a foreclosure lawsuit tied to its Mural Park office complex at 1901–1911 South Sangamon Street, nearly two years after falling behind on its previous loan, CoStar reported.
Condor closed a $27 million mortgage this month from Northlight Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based lender focused on middle-market credit deals, according to Cook County property records. The loan was used to pay off a $33 million debt held by Ready Capital, which filed a foreclosure suit two years ago after loan maturity extensions failed to yield a resolution.
The financing dismissed the foreclosure case, putting Condor on firmer footing to lease up the roughly 200,000-square-foot property, which is 75 percent leased, the developer said.
Condor had refinanced the former lumber warehouses in 2018 after completing a full-scale renovation, rebranding them as Mural Park with a pitch aimed at creative office users priced out of downtown.
The project initially saw momentum, including a lease with brewery 5 Rabbit Cerveceria and a 100,000-square-foot deal with the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois just after the pandemic began.
But by 2021, Condor was struggling to fund tenant improvements and lease-up costs, and the building’s appraisal had not reached the projected $49 million valuation that would have made refinancing more viable. In 2022, Morningstar Credit flagged the loan for special servicing and warned of a potential 20 percent loss for bondholders if a workout failed.
Condor managing member Michael McLean said the deal involved a “discounted payoff” negotiated with Ready Capital and acknowledged the challenges of refinancing a large office project in the current market.
“The leasing activity has not slowed down,” McLean said. “It’s just the capital to install the leases that slowed down.”
Construction has resumed on the 5 Rabbit Cerveceria brewery and restaurant, and it could open as soon as this summer, McLean told the outlet.
Avison Young’s Konstantine Sepsis and Danny Nikitas handle leasing at Mural Park.
Future plans for the site include expanded parking and continued investment to attract more tenants to the Pilsen campus.
— Judah Duke
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