Eversheds Sutherland Advises mHUB on Acquisition and Build-out of $50M Innovation and Commercialization Center in Chicago

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that it advised mHUB on its $50 million acquisition and revitalization of the 240 N. Ashland Avenue property in Chicago. The building is a historic manufacturing facility located in an Opportunity Zone within the Kinzie Industrial Corridor, on the city’s Near West Side, and will be the site of mHUB’s new headquarters following completion of the redevelopment work at the property later this year.

With this extraordinary project, mHUB, which has been the premier nonprofit incubator for hardtech and manufacturing innovation, development, and commercialization in Chicago, will become the largest independent hardtech innovation center in the United States. Over the next few years, mHUB's expected impact is remarkable, and includes supporting over 450 new startups and existing manufacturers in creating 4,500+ direct jobs, securing over 550 patents, generating over $2.1 billion in revenue, and attracting $1.95 billion in investment.

Eversheds Sutherland provided legal counsel to mHUB throughout the lengthy transaction process, including in connection with the $32 million real estate purchase transaction. Working closely with mHUB’s other advisers, including Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen and Baker Tilly, the Eversheds Sutherland team helped coordinate and ensure the simultaneous closing of the real estate purchase transaction alongside a complex capital stack that included $17.55 million in tax increment financing funding from the City of Chicago, a $15.52 million tax-exempt bond issued by the Illinois Finance Authority, $9.4 million in new market tax credit proceeds, $9.57 million from other local sources, and a $1.1 million contribution from mHUB.

Eversheds Sutherland’s team was led by Susan Kai and included Lizbeth Cordova, Diana Niedholdt, Liz Henderson, Tim McCaffrey, Erin Broderick, Eric Fenichel, Bill Wildman, Eric Tresh, Meriem El-Khattabi and Angelica Li. 

To learn more about the project, please view mHUB’s press release.

About Eversheds Sutherland’s Real Estate Practice Group
With more than 400 attorneys dedicated to real estate globally, the Eversheds Sutherland Real Estate group has developed a comprehensive understanding of the market, the economics of our clients’ industries and the legal issues that affect them. The team brings together transactional real estate and finance attorneys, which gives Eversheds Sutherland depth and speed to help clients identify opportunities, propose creative solutions and deal with complex issues when they arise. The attorneys have exceptional knowledge around tax and regulatory issues, and they comb through transaction details to make sure clients’ needs and concerns are addressed. The US-based team works in virtually every state and major real estate market, and international deals span the globe. Eversheds Sutherland has the depth to manage many different types of deals, including niche areas such as timber acquisition and forestry carbon projects, hospitality and hotel management agreements, data center development and leasing, and complex real estate finance, including multi-tranche mezzanine debt.

About Eversheds Sutherland
As a global top 10 law practice, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal services to a global client base ranging from small and mid-sized businesses to the largest multinationals, acting for 77 of the Fortune 100, 68 of the FTSE 100 and 129 of the Fortune 200.

With more than 3,000 lawyers, Eversheds Sutherland operates in over 70 offices in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In addition, a network of more than 200 related law firms, including formalized alliances in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa, provide support around the globe.

Eversheds Sutherland provides the full range of legal services, including corporate and M&A; dispute resolution and litigation; energy and infrastructure; finance; human capital and labor law; intellectual property; real estate and construction; and tax.

Eversheds Sutherland is a global legal practice and comprises two separate legal entities: Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP (headquartered in the UK) and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP (headquartered in the US), and their respective controlled, managed, affiliated and member firms. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland is for description purposes only and does not imply that the member firms or their controlled, managed or affiliated entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. For more information, visit eversheds-sutherland.com.