With Sale Of Groupon HQ, Sam Zell Is Closer To Exiting Chicago Market
Sterling Bay completed its $510M acquisition of 600 West Chicago. The deal was first announced in December and further cements Sterling Bay's shift from adaptive reuse specialists to acquiring trophy assets and ground-up development.
Sterling Bay Managing Principal Andy Gloor called the deal the firm's largest to date but that will be short-lived as Sterling Bay is closing on a $680M deal to buy Prudential Plaza. Sterling Bay's partners in the 600 West Chicago deal are institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The seller was Sam Zell's Equity Commonwealth. The deal leaves Equity Commonwealth with only one asset in the Chicago market. That property, Triangle Plaza near O'Hare International Airport, was put on the market in September.
The deal gives Sterling Bay a presence in the lower North Branch Industrial Corridor and strengthens its presence in the River North office market. The 1.65M SF building, a former Montgomery Ward's catalog warehouse, is 94% leased with Groupon as its anchor tenant.
Sterling Bay controls over 60 acres in the upper North Branch Industrial Corridor, including Lincoln Yards, its planned redevelopment of the former A. Finkl & Sons site.
