People looking for risky investments have a chance to buy offices in downtown Chicago at big discounts.
A big building at 444 North Michigan Avenue, covering 517,500 square feet, is being sold by Blackstone’s lenders. New York Life Insurance is also trying to sell a $56.6 million loan for the Inland Steel Building at 30 West Monroe Street. These sales show that the office market in Chicago is facing tough times.
More people working from home and strict lending rules have made things worse. Many offices are empty, and landlords are having a hard time with money. This is part of bigger problems in the commercial real estate business.
Getting Good Deals in a Tough Market
The prices these buildings might sell for are much lower than what they were bought for before. For example, the 444 North Michigan building was bought for $138 million in 2018, but now it might only sell for around $66 million.
Similarly, the Inland Steel Building was bought for $57 million in 2007, and now it’s worth much less. This shows how tough it is for property owners when people are working from home more, leading to lots of empty offices and money problems for landlords.
Looking at Office Market Trends Across the Board
Chicago isn’t the only city facing office market problems. In New York City, big companies like Blackstone and SL Green are getting new loans for their offices at lower amounts. This shows they’re being careful because office values are going down and interest rates are high.
In Phoenix, Columbus Properties bought an office building for $86.1 million, which is 14 percent less than what it sold for six years ago. This shows that changes are happening in other cities too. It’s part of a national rethinking of how to handle office real estate because of new work patterns and economic problems.
The sales in Chicago, along with what’s happening in New York and Phoenix, mean investors and property owners need to adjust their plans. Some are selling at a loss or getting smaller loans to deal with the tough economy.
For investors, this can be a chance to buy buildings for cheap, with the hope of making money later when things get better.
