CHICAGO—In many ways the city's West Loop submarket and its new, sparkling trophy towers overshadows the city's East Loop. But the addition of thousands of new residences, as well as new amenities, to the latter neighborhood should turn the heads of both office users and investors. And Franklin Street Properties believes it can now sell its 303 E. Wacker, an 861,000-square-foot East Loop office tower along the riverfront.

The company has brought on a team of experts from JLL to market the property, which it bought in 2007. Bruce Miller, international director, and Nooshin Felsenthal, managing director, are leading the JLL capital markets team handling the assignment.

“It's a perfect value-add deal,” Felsenthal tells GlobeSt.com. The team has already seen interest from a plethora of value-add investors, both national and global, “many of whom have already invested in Chicago.”

The 30-story building offers 30,000-square-foot floorplates, unobstructed 360-degree views of the river and Lake Michigan, and eleven-and-a-half-foot slab-to-slab ceiling heights. A variety of media, logistics and technology tenants lease 69% of the space, and that will allow a new owner to fill out the building with similar companies. Although a previous owner won local and regional TOBY awards from BOMA in the renovated building category after a 1999 renovation, the property has not gotten a serious makeover since then.

“Location, while still important, is not the only thing that matters anymore,” Felsenthal adds. “We've seen the rise of many locations outside the West Loop,” and what brings businesses to these areas is amenities and their experiential character. And few downtown neighborhoods can now match the East Loop.

When 303 E. Wacker was built in 1980, the East Loop was a bit of an afterthought, but the transformation of nearby railyards into Millennium Park changed its character. And the construction of the massive Lakeshore East apartment community helped make it a dense residential neighborhood, which in turn led to the arrival of stores and restaurants. Furthermore, the recent opening of Riverwalk, a series of recreational spaces along the Chicago River, made the whole area into a real destination packed with throngs of visitors.

Felsenthal points out that there has been a lot of new mixed-use development in the immediate area. Prudential Plaza, for example, has had a complete makeover, and the Tribune Tower will soon be another source of new residents. “There has been a lot of momentum in the East Loop.”

Instant Insights /

303 E. Wacker Up for Sale

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