Canadian investor Avenue Living has planted a bigger flag in Chicago, scooping up a self-storage and office building in Lincoln Park for about $30.5 million, according to public records. The mixed-use property at 1030 West North Avenue, along the Clybourn Corridor, includes vehicle storage, loft-style offices on the upper floors and ground-floor retail. The deal continues Avenue Living's push into U.S. commercial and storage properties.
Public records show Avenue Living Asset Management paid $30.5 million for the property, according to The Real Deal. The outlet identifies Chicago-based LSC Development as the seller and reports that representatives for both companies stayed quiet, declining to respond to requests for comment.
Avenue Living's own commercial listings now feature office and storage units at the North Avenue address, confirming the firm has taken over marketing the building. Avenue Living has been building scale through U.S. acquisitions, a growth pattern highlighted in a recent Morningstar DBRS report.
From Circuit City to storage and offices
As reported by The Real Deal, the building's challenges trace back to Circuit City's collapse in 2009, when the electronics chain shut down a roughly 35,000-square-foot store that had taken up about 30 percent of the property. After that vacancy, the asset ran through foreclosure and a stretch under Miami-based special servicer LNR Partners.
LSC Development stepped in as the buyer in 2012, converting part of the structure into self-storage while holding on to office and retail space. Public records cited in reporting show LSC took out a $24 million loan that year and later rolled the property into a $70 million refinancing in 2021.
Why investors are bidding
Mixed-use strips like the Clybourn Corridor can offer relatively steady income from storage operations along with potential upside from office and retail leases. That combination makes properties such as 1030 West North attractive to buyers who want diversified cash flow without straying too far from core urban neighborhoods.
A Morningstar DBRS analysis notes that Avenue Living has been completing accretive U.S. deals to grow its platform, which helps explain the firm's interest in a North Side Chicago property that blends storage, office and retail.
Avenue Living's listing for the building already shows small offices and parking available on site, suggesting leasing could pick up under the new owner. Brokers, tenants and neighborhood watchers say they will be keeping an eye out for new signage and stepped-up leasing activity as Avenue Living settles into its Lincoln Park foothold.
