Joining a crowd of property owners in the neighborhood that have recently cashed out for substantial profits, a venture led by New York-based real estate investor Gilman Management sold the adjacent buildings at 1100-08 and 1114 W. Randolph St. for $12 million, sources familiar with the deal confirmed.  The sale to Chicago real estate investor L3 Capital marks a windfall for Gilman, which bought the buildings in late 2013 and early 2014 for about $3.7 million, according to Cook County property records. Gilman financed the purchases with roughly $2.5 million in debt, records show.

The two-story 1100-08 building, which served as the setting for a season of MTV’s “The Real World” in 2014, and the smaller 1114 property got a boost in value in 2016 when McDonald’s announced it would move its headquarters across the street on Randolph from its longtime home in west suburban Oak Brook. The fast food giant moved in earlier this year.

The deal highlights the fervent investor demand for property in the Fulton Market District, which has quickly transformed from an industrial meatpacking hub to a hotbed of corporate offices and upscale retailers, hotels and restaurants. Investors from around the world storming the corridor have pushed many longtime stakeholders to capitalize on rising property values.

That has worked out well for both longtime industrial businesses in the area that have departed with big checks for their buildings, as well as those that bought in Fulton Market just a few years ago.

It’s unclear what L3 Capital plans to do with its new Randolph Street properties. While they are well-located near McDonald’s and some of the city’s hottest restaurants, the buildings face no shortage of competition for retail tenants. More than 600,000 square feet of retail is available for lease or proposed for the neighborhood, according to data from MB Real Estate.

But L3 is no stranger to Fulton Market, nor to high-profile retail locations. The firm in 2016 bought a site at 914-926 W. Fulton St., where it is teaming with the publisher of Time Out entertainment magazines to build a 50,000-square-foot food hall. L3 also owns prominent buildings in the Southport Corridor in Lakeview, near the Clybourn Corridor in Lincoln Park, on Oak Street near the north end of Michigan Avenue and on State Street in the Loop.

Full Original Article by Danny Ecker | November 12, 2018 in Crain’s Chicago