Nuveen Buys Jewel Osco-Anchored Elston Plaza on Chicago's Northwest Side for $27M

Nuveen, the Chicago-based investment management subsidiary of TIAA, paid $27 million for Elston Plaza, a 93,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center on Chicago's Northwest Side at 3570 North Elston Avenue. The seller, German asset manager DWS, sold the property for slightly below the $28.4 million it paid in 2018, a reflection of the cap rate compression caused by elevated interest rates over the intervening period. The center, built in 1984, is anchored by a Jewel Osco supermarket and features a resilient mix of service-oriented and quick-service tenants. - Nuveen: The investment management arm of TIAA ($1.3 trillion AUM); already active in Chicago across asset classes, recently acquiring two suburban apartment properties and seizing control of a riverfront office tower at 321 North Clark Street through a mezzanine default. - DWS Group: Frankfurt-based global asset management firm (Deutsche Bank's investment management arm); selling at a slight loss on its 2018 purchase price due to interest rate headwinds. No acquisition financing details disclosed; transaction structured as an all-cash purchase or with undisclosed debt.