The firm’s Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII will acquire the 110-story building, the second-tallest in the U.S., the New York-based company said in a statement today. The sellers are a group including New York-based investors Joseph Chetrit and Joseph Moinian, and American Landmark Properties Ltd.
“We are bullish on Chicago as companies expand within and move into the city and look for first-class office space,” Jacob Werner, a managing director in Blackstone’s real estate group, said in the statement. “We see great potential in further improving both the building’s retail operations and the tourist experience for one of the most popular destinations for visitors to Chicago.”
The sale underscores the demand for top-tier U.S. office buildings even as prices surge past prior highs. Blackstone typically buys assets it can improve by filling vacancies or renovating. Property owners are taking advantage of the jump in values to sell.
Prices for office buildings in central business districts have jumped 139 percent from a January 2010 low, according to an index compiled by Moody’s Investors Service and Real Capital Analytics Inc.
The 1,450-foot (442-meter) Willis Tower, formerly known as Sears Tower, was last sold in 2004 for $841 million, a Chicago record until Irvine Co.’s $850 million purchase of 300 N. LaSalle St. last year. The building has an observatory on the 103rd floor that’s one of Chicago’s top tourist attractions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at hyu@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net Christine Maurus, Andrew Blackman."
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