Dalian Wanda sells 90% stake in Vista Tower for $270M

Dalian Wanda Group has finally dumped its 90 percent equity stake in Vista Tower, the roughly $1 billion supertall hotel-and-condo development rising on East Wacker Drive.

An affiliate of Chicago-based Magellan Development, which owns 10 percent of the project, will buy out Wanda’s stake for $270 million, according to Crain’s.

The move, sought by Wanda since at least 2018, will allow the Chinese conglomerate to offload its considerable debt load, according to a securities filing.

The 101-story building at 375 E. Wacker Drive, with a 191-key hotel and roughly 400 condos, is supposed to be completed in the third quarter. With Wanda’s exit, it’s unclear what will happen to the hotel portion, a sector that’s been battered by the effects of Covid-19.

According to Redfin data cited by Crain’s, buyers have signed contracts for 184 units, about 46 percent of condos. The average list price was $2.6 million, nearly $1,000 a foot.

Vista Tower, which includes 400 condos, was expected to be ready for occupancy in the third quarter, according to an email downtown Alderman Brendan Reilly sent to his constituents in February. Buyers have signed contracts for just 184, or 46 percent, of the condos, with an average list price of $2.6 million, or $973 per square foot, according to Redfin.

Magellan and Wanda financed construction with a $700 million loan. [Crain’s] — James Kleimann