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February 08, 2006

Wanna buy a skyscraper?

One of Chicago's more appealing skyscrapers has fallen to 35% occupancy and is now on the block. The postmodern 190 S. LaSalle elegantly recalls Gothic and Romanesque cathedral architecture with massive gables atop and imposing lanterns below, with a three story barrel-vaulted lobby framed in pink granite.

190slasalle.jpg

When I worked in Sears Tower, I spent a lot of time in the Boardroom gazing out over the harbor and 190 S LaSalle, located a block away. Chicago, once known for its great architecture, has suffered from two decades of horribly bland development--the same sort of boring, square, formulaic glass, steel, and concrete that blots skylines from Hong Kong to Dusseldorf. 190 S. LaSalle is one of the rare exceptions.

From Real Estate Alert:

Insurers Show Chicago Office Tower

A joint venture is shopping a prominent Chicago skyscraper
that lost its anchor tenant last year.

The 800,000-square-foot building, at 190 South LaSalle
in the Central Loop submarket, is expected to trade for $80
million to $90 million, or up to $113/sf. Eastdil Secured is
believed to be marketing the property for a partnership
between Nippon Life and Metropolitan Life.

Last year, the city’s largest law firm, Mayer Brown, moved
out of 190 South LaSalle, leaving the building roughly 35%
occupied. Class-A properties in the market have an average
occupancy rate of 85% and average rent of $25/sf.

The buzz is that John Buck Co., which developed the 40-
story tower in 1987, might be interested in buying it back.

The granite building, which is capped with two-story
copper gables, has a distinctive lobby, with arched and
bronze-framed entryways and a gold-leaf, barrel-vaulted
ceiling that is three stories high. The property includes a
restaurant, a health club, a tenant lounge and underground
parking.

By the way, these Mayer Brown guys look like a bunch of morons. They have a map of their offices with a note that "City locations on map are not meant to serve as exact geographical markers." What sort of moron would think they would? And why would I want to pay a firm $500/hr to advise me on such trivialities? If we're going to have 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean, can we start with Mayer Brown lawyers?

Posted by adrianjo at February 8, 2006 03:43 PM