A Colorado-based real estate investor is in talks to buy a 15-story office building in the Loop business district, the firm’s second ongoing acquisition in downtown Chicago.
Real Capital Solutions is in talks to purchase the 398,510-square-foot building at 311 W. Monroe St., according to people familiar with the situation. Chicago developer Sterling Bay put the building on the market for sale in April.
Negotiations are ongoing and still could fall apart at a challenging time to finance office deals throughout the country.
It is the second property where the Louisville, Colorado-based real estate firm has been picked as the buyer in recent weeks. Real Capital Solutions also is in advanced talks to purchase the 35-story tower at 401 N. Michigan Ave.
That property at the southern tip of the Magnificent Mile shopping district is just over a mile northeast of 311 W. Monroe.
If the sale is completed, it will continue a reduction of Sterling Bay’s portfolio. The Chicago firm earlier this year surrendered the northern portion of its stalled, $6 billion Lincoln Yards mixed-use development on the city’s North Side.
Sterling Bay also has been looking to sell several properties, including some near Lincoln Yards and in Fulton Market.
Sterling Bay also recently backed off plans to buy the 36-story former headquarters of Boeing along the Chicago River, with Hines now in talks to buy that property.
The price that Real Capital Solutions is paying for 311 W. Monroe could not be determined.
“While we don’t respond to market speculation, RCS is actively evaluating opportunities in the Chicago market and will share updates as transactions are finalized,” a spokesperson for Real Capital Solutions said in an email to CoStar News.
A statement from Sterling Bay did not mention a price.
"We are proud to have repositioned 311 W. Monroe for today's office landscape and are in active conversations about the future of the property," a Sterling Bay spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
When the property went on the market in the spring, Sterling Bay was hoping for a price high enough to pay off its senior loan on the property. That commercial mortgage-backed securities loan now has a balance of just over $80.3 million, according to bondholder reports.
The maturity of the loan was recently extended from July to November to give a sale process run by brokers at Eastdil Secured more time, according to one of the reports.
The property was 93% occupied as of the second quarter of this year, according to a bondholder report. In one recent deal, one of the largest tenants, event space provider Convene, combined all five floors of its space into a single lease that was extended until May 2035, according to that report.
Other large tenants in the building are business and technology consulting firm West Monroe Partners and law firm Mayer Brown.
Before the two most recent deals, Real Capital Solutions previously had a contract to buy the 40-story tower at 190 S. LaSalle St. before that deal fell apart.
Great Neck, New York-based firms Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management have since struck a deal to buy it, CoStar News first reported in October.
If Real Capital Solutions completes its purchases on Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street, it will become the latest example of bargain-hunting office investors entering the downtown Chicago office market with multiple acquisitions.
Namdar and Mason also have teamed up to buy the 57-story tower at 70 W. Madison St. and the 47-story tower at 1 N. LaSalle St.
Portland, Oregon-based Menashe Properties recently bought the 31-story tower at 125 S. Wacker Drive after previously acquiring the 29-story tower at 230 W. Monroe in 2023.
For the record
The seller is represented by Eastdil Secured brokers Bryan Rosenberg and David Caprile.