CHICAGO—The Hearn Company and Mount Kellett Capital Management LP have just sold 55 W. Monroe, a 40-story, 804,214-square-foot tower in the city's CBD, to John Hancock, the US division of Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp. for $244 million. It's just the latest of a series of major office sales that illustrates how Chicago has become one of the go-to markets for investors.
“This will be our fourth acquisition in the Loop,” Ted Willcocks, global head of asset management, Manulife Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com. The company already owns 191 N. Wacker Dr., 200 S. Wacker Dr. and 150 N. Michigan Ave. “We think this gives us a great opportunity to offer synergies in operations and leasing.”
And although Hearn and Mount Kellett, through a joint venture, have only owned the property since 2011, Manulife obviously sees this as a long-term investment. Furthermore, Willcocks seems pleased with the efforts of the previous owners to stabilize the property. “We don't anticipate making any major changes.”
“When we purchased 55 W. Monroe, we saw a great opportunity to transform the building into a stable, core asset and we're tremendously proud of the value we have added through renovations and amenity enhancements,” says Stephen Hearn, president and chief executive officer of Hearn. “The success of our rejuvenation efforts allowed us to draw a diverse set of new tenants to the building and dramatically raise occupancy from 68% to over 90% today.”
Architect Helmut Jahn designed 55 W. Monroe, which was built in 1981. It features a Post Modern style exterior and includes recently upgraded fitness and conference centers, lobby and bicycle parking facility.
“Hearn's successful repositioning of the asset enabled 55 W. Monroe to capitalize on the strength of the creative and tech sectors in the market and enjoy tremendous leasing velocity over the last few years,” according to Nooshin Felsenthal, a senior vice president with JLL, which served as broker for the transaction.
“The job growth we've seen by tech firms and creative firms here is driving up rents and creating a significant upside for owners,” adds Bruce Miller, the international director of JLL. “As a result, the demand we've seen from both foreign and domestic capital sources will only continue to increase.”
Willcocks says Chicago is one of his firm's core markets along with Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Washington DC, and it is considering other significant purchases in the region. “We are very bullish on Chicago as an investment market.”
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
