Grubb & Ellis SVPs Louis Hall, Dirk Riekse and Chad Galayda represented ACCO in the sale, while Cushman & Wakefield represented Stepan. "Our building lends itself to increased visibility for Stepan, because of the signage," Hall tells GlobeSt.com. "For what we sold it for, the economics were still strong for them to purchase rather than lease. It has identity, close proximity to their existing headquarters, and it was the right size for them."

Stepan began seeking new property when they lost 50,000 sf they formerly occupied in a New Trier High School building. The company will maintain its headquarters in a building it owns just to the south of its new building on Skokie.

The building was on the market for only a few months, Hall says. The property is in the north suburban market, which may explain its rapid sale. "It's the tightest market out of all the suburban submarkets," Hall says. "For this type of property, it's doing well and there's quite a bit of activity in the 50,000 to 100,000-sf range. We were excited to sell it in this challenging economy, but we got lucky and had a good client and market."