Lender Affinius takes Glenstar’s keys to big Schaumburg office

Affinius Capital has taken control of the Schaumburg Corporate Center from Glenstar, making it the second office property a venture of the Chicago-based real estate developer has turned over to a lender this year.

Glenstar transferred ownership of the three-building complex spanning 1 million square feet at 1515 East Woodfield Road to San Antonio-based investment manager Affinius on Sept. 13, according to Cook County public records.

Affinius refinanced the property with a $95 million mortgage the same day, records show. The lender appeared to be an affiliate of Affinius, an investment manager that has multiple financial and asset management lines of business.

It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the takeover, which appeared to be a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. The parties did not pay any transfer tax as part of the transaction, signaling the price was next to nil and that it was unlikely Glenstar had any equity in the property beyond its debts tied to the asset.

Glenstar declined to comment through a spokesperson, and Affinius did not respond to a request for comment.

Glenstar paid $74 million for the complex in 2017, taking out an almost $78 million loan from Square Mile Capital — which USAA Real Estate acquired in 2021, rebranding the merged firms as Affinius this year — to finance the deal and ensuing operating costs for the asset, according to previous reports.

Glenstar spent $30 million updating the property before the pandemic. It paid off with a few deals: Citigroup inked a 49,000-square-foot lease in the building in August, which was one of a dozen leases Glenstar signed at the property that totaled about 154,000 square feet during the first half of 2023, bridging the building to just under 70 percent leased.

The building’s occupancy was roughly on par with the overall suburban vacancy rate, which hit a record 29.7 percent at the end of September, according to a JLL report.

Other suburban office properties have fared worse, including 6400 Shafer Court in Rosemont, whose owner, a firm led by John Buck III, is asking for a loan extension on a past-due debt as the building has fallen to 55 percent leased. Nearby, at the 20-story, 890,000-square-foot Schaumburg Towers on American Lane, owner American Landmark has been hit with an $83 million foreclosure lawsuit.

A joint venture of Glenstar and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management in January handed the Chicago Board of Trade Building over to lender Apollo Global Management, allowing the former owners to avoid potentially defaulting on $256 million in debt on the property.

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