Blackstone unloads large office complex at slight discount

Balfour acquired the 320K sf complex in Oakbrook Terrace for $45M

One Lincoln Centre and Balfour Pacific CEO Mark Scott (Credit: Google Maps, iStock)
One Lincoln Centre and Balfour Pacific CEO Mark Scott (Credit: Google Maps, iStock)

Private equity firm Balfour Pacific is digging deeper into the Chicago suburban office market.

For the Canadian investor’s latest acquisition, it paid $45 million for a 320,000-square-foot office complex in Oakbrook Terrace, according to Crain’s.

Blackstone Group was the seller, unloading One Lincoln Centre for $5 million less than it had listed it for when the property went on the market in June.

This is Balfour’s second big buy in as many years after paying $78 million in 2017 for two office buildings in Itasca, according to the report.

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One Lincoln Centre, which was built in 1986, has an attached parking garage, a fitness center, tenant lounge and conference center. Before Blackstone, the complex was part of a much larger deal that saw the firm and Wells Fargo buy out GE Capital Real Estate’s portfolio, according to media reports at the time.

The vacancy rate in the suburban Chicago office market is at its lowest level since mid-2017, at a rate of 22.5 percent in the third quarter, according to Crain’s.

Balfour Pacific has properties in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri and Arizona. [Crain’s] — Jacqueline Flynn