Hancock owner acquires West Loop tower

Shorenstein Co., the owner of the John Hancock Center, has completed its purchase of 500 W. Monroe, a West Loop tower whose financial steadiness makes up for its lack of status.

The transaction comes amid a slowdown in sales of downtown properties, as potential sellers wait for leasing to improve, which in turn would increase sale prices.

Together with Prudential Plaza, which the San Francisco-based real estate firm acquired two years ago, Shorenstein now has 4 million square feet of downtown office space.

“Our business is owning high-quality assets that are going to lease in good markets and bad markets because of the quality, the location and the amenities,” said Glenn Shannon, president of Shorenstein. “500 W. Monroe certainly fits that profile.”

High-credit tenants in the 44-story building, built in 1992, include General Electric Capital Corp., after its purchase of commercial lender Heller Financial Inc.; leasing company GATX Corp.; and insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan Cos.

Shorenstein isn’t reluctant to be aggressive when bidding for a property it likes. Shannon would not comment on the price, which sources said was about $248 million, or more than $260 a square foot of office space. The building includes a 1,200-car garage that substantially boosted the price of the 950,000-square-foot skyscraper.

To finance the acquisition, Shorenstein used cash from its sixth investment fund, which totals $609 million, and obtained a $157 million mortgage from Deutsche Bank AG, sources said.

James Hanson and Bruce Miller, managing directors with Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., advised the seller, a venture controlled by Japanese real estate investment firm Tokyo Tatemono Co.

Tasty investment: As a part of lease negotiations, prospective tenants in buildings owned by Marc Realty Co. can now ask for free fruits and vegetables. The Chicago-based firm, better known as a bargain hunter, particularly of older Loop office buildings, is the investment partner in a fledgling chain of gourmet food and produce markets

Cyd & D’Pano, a 10,000-square-foot store that opened last month at 1325 W. Randolph St., is the first of as many as 10 outlets to be opened over the next 30 months, said Laurence Weiner, president of Marc Realty.

Weiner is scouting for additional locations for the markets, which will also offer carryout foods.

The next shop is likely to open in about six months in Lakeview, to be followed by stores in other trendy Chicago neighborhoods, such as River North, and in emerging areas that have experienced a boom in new residential construction, such as the Near South Side.

Power deals: On Goose Island, ComEd has acquired several parcels totaling 7.5 acres for a combined price of nearly $10 million, with plans to build a new substation for the industrial area. The Chicago office of Inland Real Estate Group represented Midwest Industrial Metals in one of the transactions, while the Rosemont office of Colliers, Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. handled the other deal.

Meanwhile, Montero Partners Ltd. of Buffalo Grove has sold a 41,000-square-foot office building in Bannockburn to Jaeger Equities, which plans to convert the structure at 2151 Waukegan Rd. into a medical office center.

Northbrook-based real estate firm Grubb & Ellis Co. represented auto parts-maker Jernberg Industries Inc. in an agreement for an 110,000-square-foot, build-to-suit project in southwest suburban Bolingbrook. The new facility, which will house up to 80 employees, will enable Chicago-based Jernberg to expand its metal finishing operation. The company signed a long-term lease with an option to buy the building, to be developed by Berkowitz Enterprises on a 10-acre site in the Corporate Crossing Business Park.