Tabani Group acquires Highland Park's Renaissance Place

HIGHLAND PARK - Dallas, Texas-based Tabani Group has purchased Renaissance Place, an apartment/retail mix property at 1849 Green Bay Road in downtown Highland Park.

Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Tabani Group plans to revitalize the property and has applied to amend the underlying planned unit development that limits land uses in most commercial tenant spaces to "retail." The owner is requesting to broaden the definition of "retail" to include all the land uses currently permitted on the ground floor of other commercial buildings in the Central Business zoning district, which could include uses such as personal training facilities and Pilates or yoga studios.

The city council approved an ordinance granting the amendment to the Renaissance Place Planned Development May 8.

Built in 2000, Renaissance Place contains a mix of retail space, offices, and apartments totaling 221,789 square feet. It also contains a movie theater and an underground garage. At the time of the listing, the retail and office space in the mall separate from the space formerly occupied by Saks, was 90 percent leased, and the 32 one- and two-bedroom apartments were 96 percent leased.

Existing tenants include Alixandria Collection, Jos A Bank, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Starbucks, and others. Tabani plans to reposition the property via multiple improvements; including possible zoning and building changes at the former Saks site for commercial and/or residential use.

Founded in 1981 by Zaffar Tabani, the company is a full-service commercial real estate company with a portfolio valued at over $1 billion with over 10 million square feet of real estate nationwide including the Glen Town Center in Glenview. The Tabani Group Manager of Acquisitions and Development is a Glencoe native with an office in nearby Lincolnwood.