C# MSBuild not including the NuGet packages (works in Visual Studio 17)

Question

I am using PackageReference in my .csproj file and my build works in Visual Studio (2017). I'm building with .net 4.5 I have looked at this:

(MSBuild not adding a /reference for nuget PackageReference when building with jenkins)

I was at first having the issue on our build server so I tried it locally on my computer. I do a restore and then the build (or rebuild). the error is:

(CoreCompile target) -> Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs(25,12): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'log4net' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

And in my project I have

<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="log4net">
  <Version>2.0.12</Version>
</PackageReference>

Thanks in advance.

Update

I created a simple solution/project that just includes one Nuget Package. I also created it with the latest framework in case that had any bearing on the issue. Again, it builds in VS2017 but fails using MSBuild the .csproj file is

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    <ProjectGuid>{9A64612A-63A2-4CA5-8470-75DD978D7449}</ProjectGuid>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <RootNamespace>testNetwonNugetProject</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>testNetwonNugetProject</AssemblyName>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.8</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
    <AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>true</AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>
    <Deterministic>true</Deterministic>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <DebugType>full</DebugType>
    <Optimize>false</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="App.config" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json">
      <Version>13.0.1</Version>
    </PackageReference>
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
</Project>

I verified that on restore the files are added to the project obj folder as well as user/roaming/nuget and user/.nuget/packages. I get the same error message as above.