Developers of West Loop office tower built on spec score $140M loan

The developers of a West Loop office tower built on spec have taken out a $140 million on the property.

White Oak Realty Partners, CA Office and USAA Real Estate scored the hefty financing from Wells Fargo, according to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. The variable-interest loan will reach maturity in October 2023.

After landing a $97.2 million construction loan from Bank OZK, the developers began constructing the 20-story tower at 625 West Adams Street on spec in 2016, hoping to cash in on the robust downtown office leasing market at the time. But the developers struggled to fill the property, which opened in 2018 without any tenants. They enlisted commercial brokerage Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) to find tenants after finding no leads within two months of the building’s completion, Crain’s previously reported.

That bet seems to have paid off. In 2018, White Oak Realty, CA Office and USAA Real Estate announced that tech product firm CDW would become the anchor tenant at the 438,000-square-foot building. CDW ended up taking 250,000 square feet in October. WeWork followed suit a year later, taking about 90,000 square feet at the property.

Ferrara Candy Company was supposed to move into 60,000 square feet at 625 West Adams Street but the agreement was terminated so the landlord could accommodate CDW as the anchor tenant, according to Crain’s. The candy company is relocating its headquarters from Oakbrook Terrace to 77,000 square feet on the sixth floor of the Old Post Office, where it plans to add about 100 more employees, the Tribune reported.

It’s unclear how the developers plan to use the loan. White Oak and CA Ventures, parent company of CA Office, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

White Oak plans to build a 19-story apartment a block away from one of its other residential towers at 111 South Peoria Street in the West Loop.