Blackstone pays out $1.3bn for Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower
PRIVATE equity group Blackstone has announced that it will buy Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower for $1.3bn (£877m), the most ever paid for a US office building outside New York.
The tower, at 1,450ft it is the 12th-tallest in the world, is a lucrative tourist attraction thanks to its Skydeck observation floor.
Blackstone, normally known for buying distressed retail and hotel portfolios available at a bargain basement prices, has paid almost $500m more than what New York investors Joseph Chetrit and Joseph Moinian paid for the building in 2004.
However, the price comes in at around $340 per square foot, making it considerably cheaper than comparable properties sold in other major cities.
For example, the £726m ($1.2bn) sale of the Gherkin to Brazilian private investment firm Safra came in at a hefty $2,000 per sq ft, while the most expensive building sold in San Francisco last year, 50 Fremont Street, cost $640m or $780 per sq ft.