CHICAGO—Investors may have slowed down their purchases in Chicago's downtown office market, but attractive deals still crop up. Ascentris, a Denver-based real estate private equity firm, has just purchased on behalf of one of its public retirement system clients 120 North LaSalle, a 383,000 square-foot, 38-story tower in the Central Loop submarket. Although Ascentris currently focuses a lot of attention on suburban properties, this building presented just the kind of value-add opportunity it prefers.
The company looks for relatively new properties with good access to public transportation and high walkability scores, but that could also use some improvements, James Proffitt of Ascentris tells GlobeSt.com. And 120 North LaSalle, designed by Helmut Jahn and built in 1991, “fit all of these criteria, but it just happened to be located downtown.”
The building already has a good roster of tenants that occupy about 83% of the space, he adds. The company plans “to do a capital improvement program and bring the lease rate up to around 90%.” Since 2003, Ascentris has focused exclusively on value-add and opportunistic investments across all the major property types and geographic regions within the US, and after executing its business plan it typically looks to sell.
120 North LaSalle already has a LEED Gold certification. The capital improvement program will include a new tenants-only fitness center, a tenant lounge with a roof deck and lobby improvements. Other anticipated projects include an elevator modernization and façade improvements.
Ascentris partnered with Lincoln Property Co.'s Chicago office to purchase and own the property. Lincoln, which has been a tenant in the building for more than 20 years, will continue to serve as both the property manager and leasing agent for the property.
“Ascentris acquired 120 North LaSalle thanks to strong relationships with all the parties involved,” says Daniel Cohen, managing director of Ascentris. “We are excited about this investment given the quality of the building, the strength of its location and the stability of its occupancy history. 120 North LaSalle provides the security of a core property holding with the potential for upside through lease-up and the addition of new building amenities that will benefit existing and future tenants.” said
The sale was brokered by Eastdil Secured. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- 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
*May exclude premium content© 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.
