Orion takes huge loss on Northbrook office sale

Another grim reminder of Chicago’s office market struggles

Orion Office REIT Paul H. McDowell and 2211 Sanders Road in Northbrook (Getty, Orion Office REIT, Google Maps)
Orion Office REIT Paul H. McDowell and 2211 Sanders Road in Northbrook (Getty, Orion Office REIT, Google Maps)

A mostly vacant office building in Northbrook lost nearly all of its value in just over a decade.

A venture of the Phoenix, Arizona-based real estate investment trust Orion Office sold an empty 197,300-square-foot office building to an unnamed buyer for about $2.5 million, Crain’s reported. It last sold in 2011 for $44.3 million, which means Orion lost about 95 percent of its investment. It’s also the latest reminder of the diminishing value of office properties in need of upgrades and renovations.

The main tenant of the property at 2211 Sanders Road, CVS Caremark, vacated the space early last year, which likely drove the price down further.

The news comes just after Los Angeles-based UNICOM Global bought The Martingale in suburban Schaumburg for $7.4 million. Its previous ownership, New York-based LXP Industrial Trust and Davidson Kempner Capital management, spent $30 million renovating the property prior to selling it for a steep loss. The 342,000-square-foot property will be renamed UNICOM Innovation Park and house a global innovation lab for the company.

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Colliers senior vice presidents Alissa Adler and John Homsher brokered the sales of both the Schaumburg and Northbrook properties.

Last month, another vacant office building in Chicago’s northwest suburbs was also sold. In Lincolnshire, office supply giant Staples offloaded the headquarters of one of its subsidiaries for nearly $22 million. The property at 100-120 Schelter Road, home to office supplier Quill, was sold by an LLC sharing an address with Staples’ Massachusetts headquarters last month to Carlson Labs, a vitamins and supplements manufacturer likely to occupy the building rather than operate it as a real estate manager that leases property.

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— Victoria Pruitt