Prudential Plaza Sells for $470M

CHICAGO-San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties LLC has found a buyer for its 2.2-million-sf Prudential Plaza office complex. The buildings at 130 E. Randolph St. and 180 N. Stetson Ave., on and off the market since 2003, have been bought by Los Angeles-based BentleyForbes, which paid $470 million to enter the Chicago office market.

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.