Locally based Continuum Partners sold the building. A spokeswoman for Continuum says that KBS bought the building on behalf of the Illinois Retirement Pension Fund. She says that the building, which is one of the few Downtown that is 100% leased, was not for sale.

"But Continuum kept getting all of these unsolicited offers," she tells GlobeSt.com. "They finally received such a compelling offer that they decided they had to accept it. And I would say that KBS Advisors are very sophisticated purchasers and are very focused on their investments are good deals for their clients."

Mike Winn, Tim Richey and Todd Wheeler of Cushman & Wakefield handled the deal. Winn and Richey are investment brokers, while Wheeler had been leasing the building since before it opened in 2001. The building was 100% preleased before it opened. And when one of its large tenants vacated the space, Wheeler put in a local law firm almost immediately.

The eight-story building includes 25,000 sf of restaurants and retail space. However, the 23 luxury condominiums all had been sold to individual owners and weren't part of the sale to KBS. The building is across the street from the Market Street station, giving tenants easy access to the bus lines and light rail. Mark Falcon, principal of Continuum, has noted in the past that one of the reasons that 16 Market Square has bucked the trend as far as occupancy, because of its proximity to public transportation.