BOSTON– MLL Capital, a Boston-based commercial real estate investor focused on medical office, laboratory and life sciences properties across the US, continues to expand its portfolio with the acquisition of a 63,067 square foot medical office building located at 1945 West Wilson in Chicago’s northside Ravenswood neighborhood.
It is the firm’s second recent investment in the Chicago area, having acquired the medical office building at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, IL in December 2019 as part of a national portfolio expansion that added 250,000 square feet of medical office space in four markets.
“We’re proud of the role many of our tenants are playing to combat the pandemic and look forward to supporting their effort to deliver high-quality medical services and scientific advancement,” said Kyle O’Connor, MLL Capital President and Founder. “The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates that healthcare and scientific research are foundational elements of our society and our economy. As we emerge from the crisis, we believe that healthcare and scientific advancement will have a renewed public policy focus, providing a catalyst for further investment into and support of these fields.
“As a result, medical office, laboratory and life science properties remain attractive investment opportunities given their resiliency and growth potential,” O’Connor added.
“This latest acquisition is in line with our goal of building a $500 million portfolio of institutional assets in this sector,” said Wyndsor DePetro, MLL Capital Principal. “It meets our criteria to seek well-located properties in areas with strong demographics. With targeted capital improvements we will rebrand this property as the Ravenswood Medical Center.  Over time we plan to increase the diversity of the tenant roster by attracting world-class medical providers to join the likes of Advocate Children’s Medical Group Pediatrics and others at the property to offer expanded services to meet the needs of their communities.”
The seven-story building was constructed in 1972 as an on-campus medical office building at the former Ravenswood Hospital. Today, it serves the affluent neighborhood’s growing population of young families attracted to the urban environment. In addition to Advocate Children’s Medical Group, part of Advocate Healthcare, the largest health system in Illinois, tenants also include Northside Rheumatology and Little Steps Pediatrics.
The property features an onsite parking garage, and the transit-oriented location is accessible via train by both the CTA Brown line at the Damen stop and the Metra commuter Union Pacific North line at the Ravenswood stop which are both within a few blocks. 1945 West Wilson is adjacent to the prestigious Lycée Français de Chicago (The French International School of Chicago) which chose the site for its expanded campus in 2015 in part because of the convenient location and excellent surrounding demographics.
Boston-based MLL Capital pursues opportunistic and value add real estate investments in the medical office and life sciences sector that create value through strategic capital investment, detailed repositioning and redevelopment plans with a strong focus on targeted leasing. Founded in 2016, the company has built a portfolio of investments under management that includes 15 buildings located in the Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, San Antonio and Washington, DC markets totaling one million square feet.
