BA Investment Advisors leaps on empty Goose Island office for $18M

A Chicago-based real estate firm is pivoting away from suburban-focused investing to acquire a large vacant building in Goose Island, closer to downtown.

BA Investment Advisors is under contract to buy a the 179,000-square-foot building at 900 N. Branch St. for $18 million, Crain’s reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. Cushman & Wakefield is brokering the deal, and New York-based real estate investment trust W.P. Carey is the seller.

BA — which is the investment division of downtown office leasing brokerage Bradford Allen founded by Jeffrey Bernstein and Laurence Elbaum — tapped Chicago-based Guggenheim Partners as an equity investor. The deal is expected to be an all-cash purchase.

The property has 500 feet of riverfront access, a 2-acre parking lot across the street and a half-acre parcel in the adjacent lot, the outlet said.

It’s also a step closer downtown for BA. In the past, the firm has predominantly added suburban offices to its portfolio, in large part because downtown offices haven’t fared well compared to small business spaces throughout the pandemic. The firm has spent $120 million on suburban Chicago commercial real estate since 2020.

The decision to invest in Goose Island — an area undergoing a transition into a hub of offices and apartments from its strictly industrial roots — could stem from the 1-million-square-foot casino set to open just one block away, which is expected to ignite the area’s entertainment scene.

Other companies, including a division of Crate & Barrel, Lakeshore Beverage, Elite Staffing and Transportation One, have already moved their offices to the area, and Onni Group is planning on building an apartment complex with 2,700 units across the street from 900 North Branch.

BA’s plans for the new property are currently unknown. The lot was purchased by W.P. Carey for $28.7 million in 2008 and was the site of culinary arts school Kendall College until 2018.

-— Quinn Donoghue