AREA Property Partners JV Purchases Bannockburn Green Retail Center in Chicago's North Shore Area

NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AREA Property Partners in a joint venture with Dallas-based P.O'B. Montgomery & Company has acquired Bannockburn Green, a 180,000-square-foot grocery and drug store anchored shopping center in Bannockburn, Lake County, in Chicago's North Shore region, the companies announced.  The property was acquired for $29.3 million from an undisclosed institutional investor.

Built in 1984 and substantially renovated in 2008, Bannockburn Green is anchored by a Dominick's grocery store, which also was recently renovated, and Walgreen's.  Bannockburn Green is located at the intersection of Waukegan Road (Illinois Route 43) and Half Day Road (Illinois Route 22) and is the only community shopping center within a two-mile radius.   The Village of Bannockburn is approximately 30 miles north of Chicago and four miles west of Lake Michigan in Lake County.

"Bannockburn Green is the only grocery-anchored shopping center serving the residents of Bannockburn.  The demographics surrounding the center are exceptionally strong as the sales at the center demonstrate. It provides the residents of Bannockburn and Lake Forest with a high-end shopping experience in a very convenient location," said John Jacobsson, AREA partner.  "We were able to acquire the property on an attractive basis and believe we can add value with the tenant mix going forward."

"We are very excited about this purchase of a strong regional grocery-anchored center in such a great area of Chicago.  This acquisition further demonstrates our objective to purchase well-positioned, grocery-anchored product in primary and secondary markets," said Nick Totorice, P.O'B. Montgomery director of acquisitions.

The center is currently 85% leased.  Other tenants include Panera Bread, General Nutrition Center, Allstate Insurance, Subway and Sylvan Learning Center, along with a host of long standing local retailers.  

The key individuals in the acquisition for P.O'B Montgomery were President Phil Montgomery and Nick Totorice.  

Leasing and management of Bannockburn Green will be handled by CB Richard Ellis.  Joe Parrott and Michael Gold in Bannockburn will spearhead the retail leasing, while Hank Cox and Leanna Garrison will lead leasing of the center's office component.  Karen Pence Hollan and Christopher Hale of the Schaumburg office will be in charge of property management.

Rick Drogosz, Ben Wineman and Stan Nitzberg of Mid-America Real Estate Corporation's Investment Sales Group represented the seller in the transaction.

About AREA Property Partners

AREA Property Partners, formerly known as Apollo Real Estate Advisors, is a leading international real estate investor and fund manager on behalf of prominent government and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and high net worth individuals.  Since the firm's founding in 1993, AREA Property Partners has overseen the establishment of multiple real estate funds and joint ventures totaling $13 billion in equity commitments for investments in the United States and globally.  Its funds have collectively invested in over 500 transactions with an aggregated value in excess of $60 billion. The firm has offices in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, Luxembourg and Mumbai.  The firm's Web site is www.areapropertypartners.com.

About P.O'B. Montgomery & Company

Originally founded in 1919 as P.O'B. Montgomery, Builders, Engineers by Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Sr., P.O'B. Montgomery & Company was reestablished in 1980 by Philip Montgomery as a real estate investment and development firm.  The company specializes in the ownership, operation, acquisition, and development of neighborhood and community shopping centers.  Since 1980, the company has owned and operated more than five million square feet of neighborhood and community shopping center properties throughout the continental United States, including Texas, California, the Pacific Northwest, the Mountain States, the Midwest, Southeast, Southwest and Alaska.  The company is headquartered in Dallas.  For more information about P.O'B. Montgomery & Company, visit the company's Web site at www.pobmontgomery.com.

SOURCE AREA Property Partners