It has been reported that investors are buying office buildings that promise reliable rental streams. The same can be said for a property type that doesn't always get much respect -- self-storage units.

MJ Partners Principal Marc Boorstein arranged the sale of four such facilities in the Chicago area to a private investor from New York. The asking price was $11.8 million for properties encompassing about 260,000 square feet, including some warehouse space.

The portfolio generated bids from 14 different parties nationwide, demonstrating renewed interest in the market for income-producing commercial properties," Boorstein said. The seller was Australia-based Babcock & Brown. Three of the properties are near Midway Airport: 4821 W. 67th St., Bedford Park; 7131 W. 60th St., and 4222 S. Pulaski. The fourth is at 200 Parkway Drive, Lincolnshire.

Boorstein also is marketing four more self-storage facilities in Chicago and Cicero on behalf of seller JPMorgan Chase & Co. He said 80 percent of the space is occupied and the asking price is $15 million.

INDUSTRIAL SALE: An Indianapolis-based investment group, Scannell Properties LLC, bought 33 acres in the Grayslake Business Park southwest of routes 83 and 137 in Grayslake. It plans to build a 215,000-square-foot distribution center for FedEx. Property records showed Scannell paid $6.24 million to seller Delos Inc. Paine/Wetzel Oncor International represented Delos in the sale and is marketing 100 other acres in the park. The property has a unique selling point: It can take methane gas from a nearby landfill and convert it into heat or electricity for its buildings.

CALENDAR NOTE: Friends of Downtown hosts Rachel Weber, associate professor of urban planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who'll talk about tax-increment financing districts and their impact. The free program is at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at the Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington.

DOING THE DEALS: Select Marketing Solutions Inc. leased 60,000 square feet at 1175 Lakeside Drive, Gurnee, with CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and HSA Commercial the brokers. . . . Christopher Hill, former planning commissioner for Mayor Daley, and David Ariola, onetime member of the city's Community Development Commission, have merged their firm, Chicago Realty Co., with Daccord Group, run by Len Skiba. The new firm, CR Daccord, promises a boutique approach to brokerage and development. . . . Chicago Messenger leased 38,000 square feet at 1120 W. Exchange in a relocation from 1600 S. Ashland. Paine/ Wetzel Oncor International handled the deal. . . . After more than 50 years in Des Plaines, Arthur J. Rogers & Co. real estate has moved its headquarters to 1559 Elmhurst Road, Elk Grove Village. It sold its former property, 3170 Des Plaines Ave., for the suburb's new casino.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times