Joint owners Praedium Group of New York and Chicago-based Golub & Co. have sold the 395,191 sq. ft. 33 North LaSalle Street in Chicago for $60 million, or $152 per sq. ft. The buyer was NV of America Inc.
Praedium and Golub bought the building in July 1998, launching a major capital improvement program. The 38-story office tower was roughly 45% occupied when the joint venture bought the property. Now, it is 95% occupied. Roughly two-thirds is leased to law firms and other tenants in the service industry, and the balance is occupied by the City of Chicago.
"This joint venture reflects the abilities of Praedium and Golub to add value to well-located office properties," says Michael Newman, president and CEO of Golub.
This isn’t the first property that the Praedium/Golub joint venture has owned and sold. In 1999, a joint venture of Golub and Praedium bought 1603 Orrington, a 309,000 sq. ft., Class-A office building north of Chicago. In 2002, the venture also bought an adjacent, 31,000 sq. ft. retail property--1629 Orrington — that was leased entirely to Borders Books & Music. Both properties were sold by the Praedium/Golub venture at the end of 2002.
"We have great confidence in the Chicago area and continue to aggressively seek similar value-add opportunities in this market," says Robert Murray, Midwest regional head for the Praedium Group.