Just three days before Refco Inc.’s stunning Oct. 10 disclosure of financial improprieties, developer Mark Goodman closed on the $125 million sale of his midrise West Loop office tower, where the troubled trading firm is the largest tenant.
The buyer of 550 W. Jackson Blvd. is a venture that includes New York real estate investor David Karasick, loan documents show. He could not be reached for comment.
Built in 2001, the building is 87 percent leased. The hefty price, about $307 a square foot, was boosted by what appeared to be a roster of high-credit tenants.
But Refco’s sudden bankruptcy creates uncertainty over the status of its lease for about 40 percent of the 406,000-square-foot structure; that deal expires in 2015. Meanwhile, Refco’s operations in the 18-story building are seemingly unaffected.
RBS Greenwich Capital financed Karasick’s purchase with two 10-year mortgages totaling $116.5 million, loan documents show. On Friday, Greenwich pulled the transaction from a pool of loans that the firm intended to sell to investors.
Goodman said Refco’s irregularities were impossible to uncover, noting that auditors and regulators did not detect them.
Last month, Karasick and New York investor David Werner agreed to sell San Francisco’s Bank of America Center to Hong Kong investors for $1.05 billion, published reports said. Werner is also involved in the Chicago deal.
Eastdil Realty Co. represented the Karasick-Werner venture in the West Coast sale and Goodman in the Chicago sale.
Ellis to market building: Morgan Stanley has hired CB Richard Ellis Inc. to market 200 S. Wacker Drive, a well-located office tower whose largest tenant is considering a move, sources said.
Mark Bratt, a principal in the New York investment bank’s real estate unit, could not be reached for comment.
The 756,600-square-foot structure is 87 percent leased, real estate research firm CoStar says. But Orbitz, a unit of Cendant Corp., is close to a deal to move to Citigroup Center, 500 W. Madison St., where it would take about 140,000 square feet, sources said.
Orbitz could terminate its lease in 2009 by paying about $2.5 million, sources said.
Neither an Orbitz representative nor John Murphy, a senior vice president with MB Real Estate Services LLC, which manages Citigroup Center, could be reached for comment.
MetLife mulls tower sale: One Financial Place, 440 S. LaSalle St., is likely to be the next trophy tower to go on the market.
MetLife Inc. has interviewed real estate brokers about a possible sale, sources said.
The 1 million-square-foot structure is 92 percent leased, according to CoStar.
The New York insurer controls the 40-story building, but German investors hold 90 percent of the ownership. A MetLife spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Architect leaves firm: In a surprise, architect Joseph Caprile has resigned as a principal with Chicago-based Lohan Caprile Goettsch, said James Goettsch, who called the split “amicable.” Caprile could not be reached for comment.
In February 2004, as part of a buyout completed two years earlier, architect Dirk Lohan left to start his own practice. With Caprile’s departure, the six-partner firm will be called Goettsch Partners.
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Parcels to be sold: Rick Levin & Associates Inc. said it has been hired by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to auction off six parcels near 23rd Street and Michigan Avenue, in the Motor Row Landmark District. Five of the six sites have vacant structures totaling 249,000 square feet. The parcels will be sold separately Dec. 14.
Shopping center deal: Syndicated Equities Corp. has bought the Shops of Beverly, a 21,500-square-foot center on the South Side, in a $10.8 million deal, said Richard Kaplan, president of the Chicago investment firm. The fully leased property was acquired from Zifkin Realty & Development LLC of Chicago.
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