In a bet on the continued demand for West Loop office space, Boston real estate investment firm Beacon Capital Partners LLC has a deal to acquire 200 S. Wacker Drive for more than $121 million.
Beacon, whose principals are longtime investors in the local market, has agreed to pay between $160 and $165 a square foot for the building, sources said. The total price would be between $121 million and $125 million, based on 756,600 square feet of space.
A Beacon spokesman declined to comment. Executives with the seller, New York investment house Morgan Stanley, and its real estate adviser, CB Richard Ellis Inc., could not be reached for comment.
Built in 1981, the 40-story structure is 87 percent leased, according to research firm CoStar Group. But the price is regarded as aggressive because of the expected defection of two key tenants: Chicago online travel firm Orbitz and a unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which combined have 144,000 square feet.
The deal comes less than a month after Beacon disclosed that it was putting up for sale its most recent Chicago acquisition, 222 S. Riverside Plaza.
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Kuwaitis gain toehold: Developer Alter Group has sold a 90 percent joint venture stake in three suburban office buildings to Kuwait-based Global Investment House in a deal that values the 402,882-square-foot portfolio at $7.1 million.
The deal is the first investment for a $100 million American real estate fund sponsored by the Investment House and advised by Chicago investment manager Heitman LLC.
Included in the transaction were Corridors I and II in Downers Grove and a 102,882-square-foot building in suburban Washington, said James I. Clark III, managing principal of Entrust Realty Advisors, Alter’s finance affiliate.
Entrust also arranged a $53.4 million loan issued by Lehman Brothers.
Changing Fortune: Fortune Brands Inc. is moving its headquarters from Lincolnshire to the Corporate 500 Centre in Deerfield, where the consumer products company’s Jim Beam Brands has signed a long-term lease renewal, said Mark Delph, real estate director for Fortune.
As a part of the deal, Jim Beam increased its space by 15 percent, to 130,000 square feet, in one building at Corporate 500, while the headquarters staff will occupy 35,000 square feet in another building.
The office complex at 500 Lake Cook Rd. is owned by Equity Office Properties Trust. CB Richard Ellis advised Fortune.
Suburban scene: The occupancy rate for the suburban apartment market held steady during the third quarter at nearly 96 percent, the highest level in more than two years, but landlord concessions rose sharply, according to a report by Appraisal Research Counselors.
Median net rents, not including concessions, were virtually unchanged at $1.02 a square foot but should increase 6 percent to 8 percent over the next nine months, said Ron DeVries, a vice president at the Chicago firm.
But 51.1 percent of the 225 apartment complexes surveyed are offering concessions, an increase from 44.3 percent during the second quarter.
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Source: Appraisal Research Counselors