HNA Group Selling 181 West Madison, One Year After It Bought The Building
HNA Group is selling 181 West Madison, Crain's Chicago Business reports. HNA's move to sell the 50-story tower comes one year after buying it for $360M in what was the second-largest downtown office sale of 2017.
The decision to put the building back on the market is not surprising. HNA was contemplating a sale of U.S. and Australian real estate assets amid growing pressure from the Chinese government to regulate the flow of outbound capital.
Another asset HNA is selling is 245 Park Ave. in Manhattan, which it acquired from Brookfield for $2.2B in April. HNA is also selling 850 Third Ave. in Manhattan and 123 Mission St. in San Francisco. The portfolio is valued at $4B.
Chinese investment in U.S. real estate totaled $16.4B last year, but that number has dropped after new regulations required officials to scrutinize all foreign transactions. HFF is marketing the portfolio on behalf of HNA. The big question is if HNA can recoup its investment in 181 West Madison. The building's largest tenant, Northern Trust, decided to consolidate its offices to 333 South Wabash, a lease that came with naming rights for the building.
HNA Group's fire sale follows Dalian Wanda Group's decision to dispose of U.S. and global real estate holdings, including a $900M stake in the under-construction Vista Tower.
