Historic Office Property Nets $30M

CHICAGO-The 156,718-sf office building at 19 S. LaSalle St. has been sold for $29.9 million. The 16-story property, built in 1893, includes 19,562 sf of retail space at street level. It was designed by architect William Le Baron Jenny and was originally known as the Central YMCA Building.

The building has been well-maintained and has a stable tenant history, according to James Walsh, vice president/investments at Marcus & Millichap. Walsh, along with Howard Wiese and Bruce Harris of the Chicago office of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller in the transaction, a private business that had owned the property since 1980. The buyer, 19 South LaSalle Street, LLC, a German investor, was represented by Deanne Draeger, an associate in the Manhattan office of Marcus & Millichap. The buyer needed to complete a 1031 exchange.

The property is currently 94% occupied, according to Walsh. It has approximately 50 tenants. Walsh tells GlobeSt.com that the building recently underwent a $3 million capital improvement program that included mechanicals, the elevators and the building’s facade. “The buyer, as soon as he looked at it, wanted to own it,” Walsh says. “The property went on the market May 1 and was under contract within 15 days. The all-cash sale was concluded within 30 days,” Walsh adds.