Major Shifts Happening in Suburban Ownership

Blackstone recently sold Westbrook Corporate Center in Westchester for $132 million, or about $113 per square foot, to Group RMC.

CHICAGO—Downtown landlords may have recently completed a number of blockbuster office sales, but this year suburban property sales have eclipsed ones in the CBD. During the last six months (through May 2018) office investors in the Chicago metro area spent a total of $2.9 billion, according to a new report from Savills Studley, a 51% increase compared to the previous six-month total of $1.9 billion, with suburban sales totaling $1.5 billion.

“It’s a good time for suburban landlords to cash out if they have completed a lot of leases,” Jon Azulay, corporate managing director at Savills, tells GlobeSt.com. And the buyers are a real mix. Some want properties such as Continental Towers in Rolling Meadows, a 911,341-square-foot complex that struggled with high vacancy during the recession but was brought back to life by GlenStar Properties after the company bought it in 2013 for $58.5 million. GlenStar and its partner Walton Street Capital spent about $23 million on improvements and are now selling the property for $125 million, according to the Savills report, although GlenStar officials say they will stay on.