New York’s Group RMC buys 4 Chicago office buildings for almost $100M

A New York-based real estate investor is returning to the Chicago area to continue an office buying spree it started before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Group RMC is finalizing contracts to purchase three office buildings in the Corridors office park in Downers Grove, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. RMC is also purchasing the Highland Landmark III office building a few miles away from the other three.

The properties are being purchased through two separate deals. RMC will pay more than $43 million for the Corridors I and II buildings, which are located at 2651 and 2655 Warrenville Road. It will also pay almost $55 million for Corridors III, which is located at 2650 Warrenville Road, and the Highland Landmark III at 3010 Highland Parkway.

All four of the properties RMC purchased have been updated with amenities meant to encourage employees to want to work from an office rather than at home. Two of the buildings are currently fully leased, but the other two — Corridors III and Highland Landmark III — could pose a leasing challenge for RMC.

Those buildings are currently 70 percent leased, but occupancy is expected to drop to 55 percent by July, based on marketing information from Cushman & Wakefield, which marketed the properties for sale.

Group RMC is no stranger to the west suburban office market. The company purchased a series of office properties in the area in 2018. The $250 million deal included the Executive Towers West complex in Downers Grove and the Westbrook Corporate Center in Westchester.

Another big New York investor also recently bought a number of Chicago office properties. Opal Holdings is completing a $660 million deal to buy the eight-story Highland Landmark II office building, as well as a 50-story office tower on Wacker Drive and the Corporate 500 office campus in suburban Deerfield.

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[Crain’s] — Victoria Pruitt