LaSalle Investment Acquires Chicago’s 101 N. Wacker from Hines

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

101 North Wacker Drive

LaSalle Investment Management, acting on behalf of client Bayerische Ärzteversorgung, the Bavarian doctors’ pension fund, has snapped up the office tower at 101 N. Wacker Dr., in Chicago’s coveted West Loop submarket. LaSalle purchased the 600,000-square-foot building from Hines Interests LP, which had acquired the property through its Hines U.S. Office Value Added Fund II L.P. in 2007 for $129.5 million.

Originally developed in 1980 by Fifield Cos., 101 N. Wacker has maintained its sheen over the years through a series of upgrades, including a recent $12 million building renovation and a $27 million rebuild of a majority of the tenant suites. Ninety percent leased, the building is home to the likes of consulting firm Segal Co., railcar owner and manager TTX Co. and YMCA.

“101 North Wacker represents an exceptional investment opportunity for our client, given the property’s strong credit tenancy under long-term leases and its strategic northern location on Wacker Drive in Chicago’s West Loop,” David Schreiber, managing director of acquisitions at LaSalle, noted in a prepared statement.

LaSalle has tapped commercial real estate services firm JLL to oversee leasing at 101 N. Wacker. And Hines will maintain a connection to the property by staying on as manager.

While LaSalle and Hines are remaining mum on the dollar signs attached to the transaction, recent investment sales activity hints at substantial price tags for office properties in the Chicago central business district. In the second quarter of the year, four properties sold for an average of $200 per square-foot, according to a report by JLL. Third quarter transactions include Hearn’s $375 million joint venture acquisition of the 1.4 million-square-foot Three First National Plaza office tower and Clal Insurance’s $112 million purchase of the Harper Court mixed-use office and retail complex for $112 million. And Irvine Co. shelled out a whopping $850 million for the 1.3 million-square-foot tower at 300 N. LaSalle in what the real estate community is calling the largest single-building office transaction in Chicago history.