{"id":1004121123,"date":"2015-06-12T11:23:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T19:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/synd.yardi.com\/?p=352862"},"modified":"2020-05-18T16:28:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T00:28:56","slug":"blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackstone Taps Team for Willis Tower Makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Ioana Neamt, Associate Editor<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/synd.yardi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/06\/800px-Willis_Tower_night_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-352863  alignright\" title=\"Willis Tower Chicago\" src=\"https:\/\/synd.yardi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/06\/800px-Willis_Tower_night_2.jpg\" alt=\"Willis Tower Chicago\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Following its $1.3 billion acquisition of the Willis Tower, real estate heavyweight Blackstone Group is adding even more bling to the iconic Chicago landmark.<\/p>\n<p>The company closed on the 110-story property June 5 and plans to begin the repositioning process immediately. According to a news release, Blackstone enlisted the help of The Telos Group and CBRE to handle the daunting task of revamping the emblematic tower. Equity Office will also join the team as property manager in the process.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagobusiness.com\/article\/20150605\/NEWS12\/150609841\/adding-on-to-the-willis-tower\" rel=\"nofollow\">Crain\u2019s<\/a>, the repositioning effort will include the addition of new, enhanced lifestyle amenities and a complete overhaul of the 3.8 million square feet of office space. The process, which could take years to complete, will also include a significant expansion of the building\u2019s retail and entertainment space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no better owner than Blackstone to reignite the massive potential of Willis Tower,\u201d said Brian Whiting, president of The Telos Group. \u201cThe building\u2019s scale, identity and history require an ownership that is well capitalized, forward thinking and very creative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blackstone purchased the iconic tower at 233 S. Wacker Dr. earlier this year, at a time when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/researchcenter\/research-center-cpe-research\/market-reports\/market-snapshot-chicagos-renaissance\/1004113817.html\">office market in Chicago<\/a> started picking up the pace. The 42-year-old building, still referred to by some as the Sears Tower, is the second-tallest building in the U.S. and one of Chicago\u2019s most recognizable landmarks.<\/p>\n<p><em>Image courtesy of Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real estate heavyweight Blackstone Group is adding more bling to the iconic Chicago landmark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1491,21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004121123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chicago","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Blackstone Taps Team for Willis Tower Makeover - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blackstone Taps Team for Willis Tower Makeover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Real estate heavyweight Blackstone Group is adding more bling to the iconic Chicago landmark.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-12T19:23:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-19T00:28:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/synd.yardi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/06\/800px-Willis_Tower_night_2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ioana Neamt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/blackstone-taps-team-for-willis-tower-makeover\/\",\"name\":\"Blackstone Taps Team for Willis Tower Makeover - 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