Superlative Skyscraper Sales
This week's commercial real estate banner headline was Blackstone's reported interest in and discussions about buying Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) for $1.5B. It's not every day that such a universally recognized skyscraper changes hands. But several marquee office towers have recently traded at similarly eye-popping figures. Here's a look at Willis Towers' rarefied company.
Price: $4.2B, in May 2013.
Buyers: Empire State Realty Trust investors.
Seller: Building shareholders, who voted to form Empire State Realty Trust, a publicly traded REIT that replaced a Malkin Properties-led ownership syndicate.
Stories: 102
Bragging rights: The public would have a chance to own part of the ESB in its final weeks as New York's tallest building before 1 WTC officially topped it.
Aftermath: In December 2013, about 3K owners of ESB shares sold in 1961 sued over alleged losses from the deal totaling over $400M. A state judge dismissed the suit in July 2014.
Price: $2.9B, in May 2008.
Buyers: A group led by Mort Zucerkman's Boston Properties.
Seller: The then debt-ridden Macklowe family.
Stories: 50
Bragging rights: Announced about three months before Lehman Brothers went under, the deal was the most ever paid for a US office property.
Aftermath: In 2013, China's Zhang real estate dynasty and Brazil's Safra banking family bought a $1.4B, 40% stake in the building that upped its value to $3.4B.
Price: $850M, in May 2014.
Buyer: Donald Bren's Irvine Co.
Seller: KBS Realty Advisors.
Stories: 60
Appreciation: The tower's price jumped 30% from 2010, when KBS picked it up for $655M.
Bragging rights: The sale worked out to the highest price ever paid PSF ($654) for a Windy City office building.
All in the family: Donald Bren's brother, Peter, served on the KBS board.
Price: $367.5M, in June 2013.
Buyer: Overseas Union Enterprise, a Singaporean developer.
Seller: MPG Office Trust.
Stories: 72
Bragging rights: Not only is this (for now) the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River, but it was also designed by international celebrity architect IM Pei.
Lights, camera...: Like fellow list-maker the Empire State Building, this LA monster was memorably destroyed by the aliens of Independence Day.
