Bridge, American Landmark hunting for more suburban office buyers

A pair of suburban office property owners are courting buyers, seeking deals for two properties that would amount to about $200 million combined if the sellers get anywhere close to their expected prices amid a depressed market.

Skokie-based American Landmark Properties hired Cushman & Wakefield to sell the 20-story Schaumburg Towers at 1400 and 1450 American Lane, and Sandy, Utah-based Bridge Investment Group hired JLL to find a buyer for its two-building O’Hare International Center complex at 10255 and 10275 Higgins Road in Rosemont, Crain’s reported.

The property owners are taking a risk, trying to unload the buildings at a time when interest rates are high and demand for office space is low. Neither of the properties has an official asking price, so they will serve as a gauge of investor interest in large suburban office properties. Office building sales last year dropped 12 percent from the year prior, the outlet reported, citing MSCI Real Assets.

Bridge Investment and American Landmark each bought the buildings in 2018 and invested in extensive updates.

The 890,000-square-foot Schaumburg Towers are expected to draw bids between $110 million and $120 million, people familiar with the offerings told the outlet, which would be up from the $87 million American Landmark paid for the property. The developers invested close to $19 million in the property, which is currently 77 percent leased.

The nine-story, 556,000-square-foot O’Hare property is expected to sell for about $70 million, people familiar with the property told the outlet. Bridge Investment bought the asset for $64 million. After an additional $8 million in renovations, the complex is 83 percent leased.

Both of the buildings are more occupied than the suburban office average, which was 72 percent at the end of 2022. They’re also well above the national average of 62 percent for top-tier office properties.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Dan Deuter and Paul Lundstedt are marketing the Schaumburg property and JLL Chicago’s capital markets team is handling the Rosemont listing.

Read more

Chicago

Axial to test suburban market with $34M ask on Vernon Hills office

— Victoria Pruitt