Sterling Bay Nails Down $181M Loan for Chicago Tower

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Rendering of 333 N. Green St. in Chicago

A 19-story, 548,900-square-foot Class A office tower on Chicago’s Near West Side has taken a big step forward for local developer-owner Sterling Bay, with the company’s acquisition of $181.6 million in construction financing. HFF secured the floating-rate loan through Wells Fargo.

Sited in the hot Fulton Market neighborhood, 333 N. Green St. will feature floor plates ranging from 13,634 square feet to 40,589 square feet, above 31,500 square feet of street-level retail and 326 spaces of parking on floors two through five. Amenities will include a 2,700-square-foot fitness center, 2,000-square-foot conference area, 5,590-square-foot tenant lounge and a private rooftop deck for tenant use.

The building, which targets LEED Silver certification, is 47 percent preleased to GroupM and will serve as its North American headquarters, and as the regional headquarters for WPP, its parent company.

The location boasts a Walk Score of 97 and a Transit Score of 89, being only five blocks from both the Morgan Street and Grand Avenue “L” stations and a short distance from the commuter rail access at Ogilvie Station.

HFF’s debt placement team included Managing Directors Timothy Joyce and Danny Kaufman and Director Christopher Knight.

Sterling Bay did not respond to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

Near West Side Is Sterling Bay’s Turf

Sterling Bay’s panoply of past and future projects in Chicago’s West Loop/Near West Side is genuinely impressive.

One of the highest-profile developments was 1KFulton, home to Google’s Midwest headquarters, along with other tech companies. During reconstruction, the original 10-story building, a former cold-storage warehouse, was supplemented with a new six-story addition. Though Sterling Bay sold the property to American Realty Advisors, of Glendale, Calif., for $257 million in mid-2016, it still handles leasing and property management.

And barely two months ago, Sterling Bay pulled off (in partnership with J.P. Morgan Asset Management), the biggest acquisition in its history, buying 600 W. Chicago Ave. from Equity Commonwealth for $510 million. Originally built in 1908 as a Montgomery Ward catalog warehouse, the 1.6-million-square-foot structure is now Groupon’s HQ and 94 percent leased overall.

Another recent Sterling Bay project was the Ace Hotel, at 311 N. Morgan St., across the street from 1KFulton. The 159-key boutique hotel, an adaptive reuse of a former cheese factory, opened in mid-2017.

In the pipeline is The Porch, at 330 N. Green St., an 18-story, 670,400-square-foot office building that will feature a five-story open-air deck. Designed by SOM, the tower is scheduled for delivery in 2020.

Image courtesy of Sterling Bay