Tishman Speyer Grabs Iconic Chicago Tower

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Tishman Speyer, the global real estate owner, operator and developer, now has 10 Chicago properties in its portfolio after closing on the acquisition of 190 South LaSalle, a Class A building in the city’s Central Loop, from CBRE Global Investors for a reported $211 million.

Neither firm would confirm the sales price of the 40-story, 800,000-square-foot office building first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business. Already Chicago’s largest commercial landlord, the purchase gives New York-based Tishman Speyer another premier downtown asset. Tishman Speyer now owns approximately 10.4 million square feet of office space in Chicago including CME Center, Franklin Center, 353 North Clark, 222 North LaSalle, One North Franklin and 525 W. Monroe.

“As the U.S. economy improves, Chicago’s standing as the Midwest’s center for commerce is stronger than ever,” Tishman Speyer’s Co-CEOs Jerry and Rob Speyer said in a news release. “We feel Tishman Speyer is well positioned for the long term as the provider of high-quality office space to the region’s great business organizations, and 190 South LaSalle is an ideal addition to our local portfolio.”

Tishman Speyer, which as of March 31 had acquired, developed and/or managed more than 123 million square feet worth more than $64.4 billion since 1978, also owns New York’s Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Center. Its international holdings include Ventura Corporate Towers in Rio de Janeiro, Torre Norte in Sao Paulo and OpernTurm in Frankfurt. In June, the firm acquired Tour Pacific, a 570,000-square-foot office building in Paris from Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors declined to comment on the Chicago transaction. The firm bought the building in 2006 for $137 million on behalf of its Strategic U.S. Value IV Investment fund. At the time it was purchased, 190 South LaSalle was less than half occupied. CBRE has boosted leasing in the building to about 89 percent occupancy. One of its main tenants, U.S. Bank, recently added 43,370 square feet to its lease, giving it about 110,000 square feet in the building. MB Real Estate, which negotiated the expansion, noted that the deal also includes naming rights for the tower to be known as the U.S. Bank building.

Built in 1987 and designed by architects Phillip Johnson and John Burgee, the office tower offers amenities including The Library business club, AraOn restaurant, fitness and conference facilities, executive parking and an on-site concierge. Other tenants include Barclays Capital, Duane Morris and Bain & Co., which took 73,000 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a report by MB Real Estate.

CBRE Global Investors, a global real estate investment management firm with more than $90 billion in assets under management, put the Chicago office building up for sale in February as part of a 2.9 million-square-foot office portfolio. The Strategic Office Collection also included Interchange Office Center, a 150,000-square-foot asset in the West Plano submarket of Dallas; The Point at Las Colinas, a 403,400-square-foot office property in the Las Colinas submarket of Dallas; The Urban Towers, a two-building complex with 848,600 square feet, also in Las Colinas in Dallas; and Wildwood Center, a 679,000-square-foot property in the Northwest submarket of Atlanta.

While the office buildings went on sale as a portfolio, it appears CBRE Global Investors is selling them off individually. Brookwood Financial Partners L.L.C., a Massachusetts-based real estate investment and asset management company, announced July19 that it was purchasing Interchange Office Center for an undisclosed amount. The Dallas Morning News reported July 30 that San Diego-based Parallel Capital Partners had signed a contract to acquire The Urban Towers and New York-based Fortis Property Group was under contract to purchase The Point at Las Colinas. Prices were not released. Further information on Wildwood Center in Atlanta was not available.

CBRE Global Investors is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc.