Two months before the completion of 1 S. Dearborn St., developer Hines Interests LP is considering a sale or major refinancing of the 40-story tower, anchored by law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP.
Hines is interviewing real estate firms about potential options, with a selection expected next month, sources said.
Gregory Van Schaack, senior vice president in Hines’ Chicago office, declined to comment.
The building is expected to command a premium price of well over $400 a square foot, or substantially more than $330 million, according to estimates. Restaurateur and developer Lawrence Levy is a key investor in the 820,000-square-foot building, which is 90 percent leased.
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CDW to stay: CDW Corp. is close to a deal to extend its lease and dramatically expand its space in the 10 and 120 S. Riverside Plaza office complex, a key win for landlord Trizec Properties Inc.
Vernon Hills-based CDW has about 144,000 square feet split between both buildings. But the company, advised by real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Inc., is negotiating a deal to consolidate in 120 S. Riverside, taking as much as 240,000 square feet, sources said.
Stephen Budorick, executive vice president with Chicago-based Trizec, declined to comment. A CDW spokesman said that the computer reseller is looking for additional downtown office space because of its growth but that a lease had not been signed.
Levy sues again: For the second time this year, a Levy Restaurants Inc. partnership has filed a lawsuit against Sears Tower’s owners to collect allegedly unpaid fees and expenses for running the restaurants and catering business in the skyscraper at 233 S. Wacker Drive.
Last month, the Levy partnership filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court to collect more than $257,000. In January, the partnership sued to collect $533,700, though that case was quickly settled. The partnership’s agreement with the building, signed in 1990, expires next year.
“We intend to resolve whatever situations exist directly with Levy in the next few weeks,” said John Huston, executive vice president with Skokie-based American Landmark Properties Ltd., which co-owns the 110-story building.
Buck sells building: Atlanta-based VEF Advisors LLC has an agreement to buy 311 W. Monroe St. for about $43 million from a fund managed by John Buck Co., sources said.
The 355,000-square-foot building is nearly 70 percent leased to Harris Bank as a part of a 2001 sale/leaseback deal. Eastdil Realty Co. is handling the sale.
Buck Co. paid $30 million for the building and used its zoning rights to expand Buck Co.’s 111 S. Wacker Drive tower, which is next door.
A VEF executive declined to comment. The company is part of Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP of New York.
Lease deal: Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies US Inc. said it has signed a lease with British beverage and candymaker Cadbury Schweppes PLC for a new, 475,100-square-foot distribution center in the Laraway Crossings Business Park in Joliet. Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. brokered the deal.
USG adds space: USG Corp. has increased its space by 20 percent, to about 305,000 square feet, in the office building proposed for 550 W. Adams St., said Christopher Wood, senior vice president with Equis Corp., which represented USG. Chicago developer Fifield Cos. plans to complete the 477,500-square-foot structure in early 2007.
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