Prudential eyes Riverside-owned skyscraper in Pru Plaza exit

Prudential is stripping its name from Prudential Plaza, its longtime office home at 130 East Randolph Street, and it’s eyeing a younger building along the Chicago River.

The insurance and financial services giant is on the brink of finalizing a deal to downsize into a 28,000-square-foot lease, a full floor in Riverside Investment & Development’s 2017-built skyscraper at 150 North Riverside Drive, CoStar reported.

New Jersey-based Prudential is vacating the two-building, 2.3-million-square-foot office complex that has borne its name since the 1950s.

Its exit paves the way for significant transformations by Prudential Plaza’s owner, a joint venture of Wanxiang Real Estate and Sterling Bay. The landlord intends to recapitalize the property. It’s seeking a three- to four-year extension of its commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, which has a balance of $385 million and is scheduled to mature in August 2025.

Prudential has about 50,000 square feet in the building, known as One Two Pru. The move aligns with the trend of downtown office tenants opting for smaller spaces in premier buildings, as leases signed before the pandemic expire. The dynamic has fueled the outperformance of Chicago’s trophy towers amid an otherwise slow leasing market.

Developed by the John O’Donnell-led Riverside, 150 North Riverside — which stands out for its thin, wedge-shaped base — is more than 97 percent leased.

One Prudential Plaza opened in 1955 as the headquarters of Prudential’s Mid-America company, and the second tower was added in 1988.

Wanxiang, a Chicago-based affiliate of a Chinese auto parts maker, partnered with Chicago-based Sterling Bay to buy the property for $680 million in 2018. Wanxiang was also involved in the development of 150 North Riverside.

Prudential’s exit from One Two Pru brought resolution to a 2020 lawsuit filed by Prudential over its naming rights deal with Wanxiang. That lawsuit has been settled, Wanxiang’s Larry Krueger told the outlet. And negotiations for the loan modification are nearing a positive outcome, he said.

Eddie Viliunas of JLL is representing Prudential in the lease negotiations, and Riverside brokers Christy Domin and Drew Nieman represent the landlord of 150 North Riverside.

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