Commerz Real acquires office building in Chicago for €172m
Commerz Real has acquired “The National” in Chicago for its open-ended real estate fund hausInvest for €175 million ($198 million).
The seller is local project developer Blue Star Properties.
Situated at 125 S. Clark Street in the heart of the central business district, “The Loop,” the office building with its 20 stories accommodates approximately 581,000 square feet of rental space.
“The National” was erected in 1907 as the “Edison Building”. It was initially the headquarters of the electricity company “Commonwealth Edison”, which was also founded in 1907 and which is now the largest electricity provider in Illinois under the name ComEd.
In 2017, the property was comprehensively redeveloped and modernized. Approximately 88 percent of the building is now leased to 28 companies. Tenants include WeWork, the marketing agency Merkle, and the audio technology manufacturer Shure. The ground floor is also home to a “Revival Food Hall” with some 7,000 visitors daily.
“The National offers everything that investors nowadays expect of a hausInvest investment,” explains Henning Koch, global head of transactions at Commerz Real: “A redeveloped landmark building in a prime location geared to modern users at an attractive price with a reliable cash flow and the potential for value appreciation through active asset management.”
Commerz Real plans to further upgrade the property and enhance its attraction for users.
With a population of more than 2.7 million, Chicago is the third-largest city in the USA; the metropolitan region has a population of nearly 10 million. The real estate market in downtown Chicago is benefiting from a strong influx from the surrounding region. At the same time numerous conversions from office use to hotel and residential use have led to a decline in the supply of office space. Thus, since 2010 more than 4.3 million square feet of former office space has been converted, with potential for a further 2.15 million square feet in the coming years.
