-- 41-Story and 64-Story Class A Office Towers Anchor City's East Loop Skyline; Property Features Landscaped Plaza Entry; Shared Lobby with Retail Concourse; and Sweeping Views of Millennium Park, Lake Michigan and City Skyline
BentleyForbes, a national commercial real estate investment and operations company, today announced its purchase of Prudential Plaza, a landmark Chicago skyscraper campus. The property features two iconic and historically significant office towers, built in 1955 and 1990, respectively, encompassing 2.2 million square feet on approximately 3.3 acres located in Chicago's East Loop submarket adjacent to Millennium Park, the 21st Century cultural heart of the city.
BentleyForbes acquired the property from San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties LLC, a leading sponsor of private real estate investment funds in the United States. The Chicago office of Eastdil Secured brokered the sale transaction, with a team led by Stephen Livaditis, managing director, representing both parties.
"We have reached the next level of our company's strategic investment program through this acquisition," said C. Frederick Wehba II, vice chairman and co-founder of BentleyForbes. "In the past few years, the size and scope of our investment target has shifted to large, multi-tenanted Class A office properties in major-metro CBDs. The acquisition of Prudential Plaza reaffirms our commitment to this strategy and the growth of our capital resources in terms of completing large, institutional quality transactions."
The approximately $470 million acquisition is the company's largest single-property acquisition to date and also marks the entry of BentleyForbes into the Chicago market. The BentleyForbes acquisition team was lead by C. Shane Cates, managing director. An active investor across the nation, privately-held BentleyForbes focuses on the acquisition and management of trophy, multi-tenant Class A office assets in major-metro and top regional markets.
"Prudential Plaza is a standout Class A office environment in Chicago, which has a Central Business District characterized by distinct submarkets offering various locational advantages," said David W. Cobb, president and CEO of BentleyForbes. "This property's sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the city skyline, as well as its position overlooking Millennium Park, brand it with a one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable status. The East Loop is a dynamic, culturally rich section of the city, and a Prudential Plaza location puts tenants in the middle of this excitement."
Prudential Plaza occupies a full city block overlooking North Michigan Ave. at its intersection with E. Randolph St. in Chicago's culturally rich East Loop commercial district. The signature office campus features approximately 2.2 million square feet of Class A office space in two sizable towers, reaching 41- and 64-stories, respectively. Notably, the property features sweeping, unobstructed views from almost every floor of Lake Michigan, Michigan Ave., the city skyline, the Chicago River and the internationally lauded Millennium Park. Prudential Plaza also offers a landscaped plaza entry and more than 90,000 square feet of signature retail space, a large portion of which is in lobby locations accessible to pedestrian traffic from Millennium Park.
At the end of 2005 and during the first half of 2006, BentleyForbes refinanced approximately 1.7 million square feet of commercial property assets located in diverse markets and has sold, or is under firm contract to sell, another 2.2 million square feet of single-tenant office, industrial and retail assets from within the company's existing national portfolio. This strategic portfolio refinement has provided the company with additional capital resources capable of supporting approximately $1.0 billion of new, leveraged acquisitions moving forward during 2006.
During 2005, BentleyForbes successfully completed the purchase of Class A office properties in diverse markets, including: four multi-tenant buildings totaling 721,351 square feet of Class A office space in the Preston Center submarket of Dallas; a single-tenant, three-story, 250,000-square-foot, Class A suburban office building housing mission critical operations in Arlington, Texas; the historic 11-story, 261,000-square-foot Watergate Office Building and Retail Arcade at 2600 Virginia Ave., N.W., in Washington, D.C.; and the acquisition of Park Center, a five-story, 236,000-square-foot Class A office property located in the North Dallas submarket of Plano, Texas.
About BentleyForbes
Based in Los Angeles, BentleyForbes is one of the nation's fastest-growing, privately-held commercial real estate investment companies. The Company is focused on acquiring and managing Class A or well-positioned office, retail and industrial/warehouse real estate assets in markets throughout the United States. Currently, the Company's portfolio is valued in excess of $1.5 billion, including properties ranging from office buildings, shopping centers and industrial properties, to light manufacturing facilities and warehouses encompassing approximately 9.5 million square feet located in 14 states: California, New York, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Maine, Indiana and Minnesota.
The Company is actively investing in multi-tenant commercial properties, focusing on acquiring signature, trophy assets tied to a high residual real estate value due to their locations in major MSAs and top submarkets nationally. BentleyForbes is also internationally recognized for its expertise in the acquisition and management of single-tenant, sale-leaseback and net lease properties and continues to acquire such assets. For further information regarding BentleyForbes, its holdings and investment strategies, please log on to the Company's website at www.bentleyforbes.com.
About Shorenstein Properties LLC
San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties LLC (www.shorenstein.com) is one of the oldest and most successful private real estate investment companies active throughout the United States in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of high quality office properties. Since its beginning in 1924, the company has evolved from a regional real estate operating company to an active national investor and manager of commingled institutional capital. Since 1992, Shorenstein has sponsored seven closed-end real estate investment funds. Shorenstein's substantial co-investment, integrated investment and operating strategy and strong performance have positioned the company as an experienced leader in the value-added arena.
© 2006 Business Wire
