The deal is the largest ever for BentleyForbes, whose 2005 acquisitions included the Watergate office building and retail arcade in Washington, DC. "In the past few years, the size and scope of our investment target has shifted to large, multi-tenanted class A office properties in major-metro CBDs," says BentleyForbes vice chairman and co-founder C. Frederick Wehba II. "The acquisition of Prudential Plaza reaffirms our commitment to this strategy and the growth of our capital resources in terms of completing large, institutional quality transactions."

BentleyForbes president and chief executive officer David W. Cobb calls Prudential Plaza "irreplaceable" with its views overlooking Millenium Park to the south, Lake Michigan to the east as well as the Michigan Avenue skyline. However, it acquires the 41- and 64-story properties 20.3% vacant, according to Black's Guide, in an East Loop submarket with vacancy at 16.9% with sublease space, according to Delta Associates.

Overall vacancy in the 28.2-million-sf East Loop is the highest among the six Downtown submarkets, Delta Associates reports. "The East Loop is a dynamic, culturally rich section of the city," says Cobb, whose company is in the process of selling 2.2 million sf of office assets.