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Walmart market coming to Presidential Towers

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open a Neighborhood Market store at the Presidential Towers apartment complex in the West Loop in what would be the discount chain’s first small grocery store in Chicago.

The world’s largest retailer intends to spend $1 million to build out 26,491 square feet on one level at the residential tower at 555 W. Madison St., according to a building permit filed on behalf of Walmart.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based discount chain has been making a push to expand into urban centers of the north to jump start sales growth. On Tuesday, the retail giant reported that sales at U.S. stores open at least one year, a key metric of retail health, fell for the second year in a row. Get the full story »

Groupon headquarters to sell for $390M

From Crain’s Chicago Business | The former Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog building on the edge of River North is set to be sold for $390 million, sources say, four years after a group of New York investors paid $290 million for it, at the peak of the real estate cycle. Get the full story>>

Motorola Solutions to lease out 2 buildings

From the Daily Herald | Motorola Solutions is offering for lease two major buildings on its Schaumburg campus to outside companies. After Motorola Inc. split on Jan. 4, the remaining Motorola Mobility equipment was transferred to Libertyville, so more space opened at the Motorola Solutions headquarters, located off Algonquin and Meacham roads. Get the full story>>

Target to open in old Carson’s building

Outside the former Carson Pirie Scott building on State Street. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)

Target Corp. announced on Tuesday long-anticipated plans to open a store in Chicago’s Loop.

The store, called City Target, will lease space in the Sullivan Center at 1 S. State St., which has been empty since Carson Pirie Scott closed its flagship department store in 2007.

Target plans to open the store next year. The urban format, smaller than the typical Target store, will offer fresh food, apartment essentials and clothing. It will mark the Minneapolis-based discount chain’s 10th store in Chicago and create about 200 jobs.
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Blizzard delays Block 37 mall auction

From Crain’s Chicago Business | The blizzard that paralyzed Chicago last week also postponed the court-ordered sheriff’s auction of the new mall at Block 37. The auction, which would be the largest foreclosure sale of a downtown property in more than a decade, was set for Feb. 2 after a group of lenders led by Bank of America Corp. obtained a foreclosure judgment in December against the four-level mall at 108 N. State St. Get the full story>>

Building that housed Amcore branch is up for sale

From The La Salle NewsTribune | A building that housed one of the branches of failed bank Amcore is up for bids. The sale is being handled by CB Richard Ellis, and the building, located in Peru, Ill., is being sold by sealed bids due March 9.

Old Second Bancorp’s stock falls on 4Q loss

The stock of $2.12 billion-asset Old Second Bancorp Inc. was down 16.6 percent in late morning trading as the troubled Aurora-based lender reported a fourth-quarter loss of $76.6 million, or $5.48 a share. Get the full story »

Office vacancy index picks Packers in Super Bowl

If a groundhog is supposed to predict the end of winter, can vacant office space signal who’s going home with a Super Bowl victory Sunday?

Just maybe, says commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, whose executive chairman happens to be Roger Staubach, who has two Super Bowl rings of his own. Get the full story »

2 downtown office towers up for sale

Crain’s Chicago Business | Two downtown office towers — Three First National Plaza at 70 W. Madison St. and 233 N. Michigan Ave. in Illinois Center — have come on the market in a possible sign of thawing in real estate investment.

Ventas to offer 5.5M shares in secondary offering

Ventas Inc., a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, plans to offer 5.5 million shares in a public offering to raise money to repay existing mortgage debt and for other purposes, the company said Tuesday. Get the full story »

Loehmann’s on State Street to close

Loehmann’s is closing its State Street store Saturday after operating for only three years.

The off-price women’s clothing chain opened the two-level, glass-encased showcase store in 2007, calling it one of its most upscale stores at the time. The store at 151 N. State St. anchors a prominent shopping corner in the Loop along with Macy’s Midwest flagship, Borders book store and the struggling Block 37 shopping mall. Get the full story »

Post office to sell Naperville building, lease space there

The U.S. Postal Service plans to sell its downtown Naperville facility and lease a substantially smaller space in the 70-year-old building.

Naperville Bank & Trust, a subsidiary of Wintrust Financial Corp., signed a contract last week to purchase the building and the bank will take occupancy in the fall, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which is representing the Postal Service. Get the full story »

Whole Foods to move Midwest HQ to River North

Whole Foods Market will move its Midwest regional headquarters to 640 N. LaSalle St., taking 36,000 square feet at the seven-story building  on the block bordered by LaSalle, Ontario, Wells and Erie streets, according to leasing agent Jones Lang LaSalle.

The food retailer’s local regional headquarters is at 3241 N. Lincoln Ave., in West Lakeview, where it has 24,000 square feet.

PrivateBancorp targets toxic commercial real estate loans

PrivateBancorp Inc.’s quarterly profit beat analysts’ estimates as its loan loss provisions halved and the lender expects to reduce its exposure to toxic commercial real estate loans this year.

The bank’s shares rose as much as 7 percent, to a high of $16.09, Tuesday morning on the Nasdaq. They pared some of the gains to close up 1.2 percent, at $15.19,  at nearly three times the usual volume. Get the full story »

Naperville Bank buying post office building

From TribLocal | Naperville Bank and Trust has its eyes on the historic downtown Naperville post office building, and the plan is moving forward after a contract was agreed upon Thursday.