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CHICAGO-Thor Equities' financed all but $10 million of its purchase and planned renovation of the historic Palmer House Hilton hotel. Sonnenblick-Goldman Co. arranged a $320-million loan for New York City-based Thor Equities, which paid $230 million to Beverly Hills, CA-based Hilton Hotels Corp. for the 1,639-room property at 17 E. Monroe St.

"Many prospective investors saw the Palmer House Hotel and Shops as a hotel acquisition," says Sonnenblick-Goldman Co. managing director and principal Mark Gordon. "Thor Equities identified the Palmer House as a 1.7-million-sf landmark opportunity and saw the potential to redevelop the retail and renovate and reposition this truly irreplaceable asset."

Thor Equities plans to add a ground-floor retail wing along State Street, a block south of its Gallery on State Street redevelopment. Also in Thor Equities' 6-million-sf, $1.4-billion portfolio is the 260,000-sf Gallery at Canterbury in south suburban Markham. "The viability of Thor's plan enabled us to structure a financing that will allow them to achieve their desired objectives in an economically feasible fashion," Gordon adds.