Mid-America Real Estate Group Sells The Foundry to Curbline Properties in Chicago's Lincoln Park
Mid-America Real Estate Group's Investment Sales Group has completed the sale of The Foundry, a 35,469-square-foot neighborhood shopping center located at 2070-2112 North Clybourn Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, to Curbline Properties, a publicly traded REIT. The seller was a private investor.
Ben Wineman, Principal and Managing Broker at Mid-America Real Estate Group, served as the exclusive listing broker on behalf of the seller. The sale price was not disclosed.
Property and Tenant Profile
The Foundry is currently 86% occupied and features a convenience- and necessity-oriented tenant roster that includes Men's Wearhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Market, Sploot Veterinary Care, Arfit Dog Therapy, and Sherwin Williams. The center also offers surface parking, which Mid-America described as an anomaly for street-front retail along the Clybourn Avenue corridor.
The surrounding trade area is characterized by a high-income demographic base. More than 55,000 people live within one mile of the center, and average household incomes in the area exceed $230,000.
Adjacency to Foundry Park Redevelopment
A key element of the transaction is The Foundry's position directly in front of the planned Foundry Park mixed-use redevelopment project, which is anticipated to deliver more than 3,700 residential units to the market. That pipeline of future density represents a potential long-term driver of retail traffic and demand for the center's convenience-oriented tenants.
The combination of an established necessity-based tenant mix, surface parking in a dense urban corridor, and proximity to a large-scale residential development project positions the asset as a retail investment tied to anticipated population growth in the immediate trade area.
Market Context
The transaction reflects continued investor interest in well-located, service-oriented retail centers in high-income urban neighborhoods. Necessity-based tenants — including food, pet care, and home improvement uses — have generally demonstrated more resilient occupancy than discretionary retail formats, making centers like The Foundry more attractive to buyers seeking durable cash flow.
Surface parking remains a meaningful differentiator for convenience retail in dense urban settings, where off-street parking is limited. Its presence at The Foundry adds a functional advantage that is relatively uncommon along the Clybourn Avenue retail corridor.
About Mid-America Real Estate Group
Mid-America Real Estate is focused exclusively on retail real estate services in the Midwest, with full-service offices in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The firm leases and manages more than 50 million square feet of retail space and represents more than 270 retailers and tenants. The total consideration value of leasing and investment sales transactions the firm facilitated in 2025 was $2.6 billion.
Sources: Mid-America Real Estate Corporation