Chicago Loop Landmark Trades for a Song After Distress Sale

Marc Calabria’s big residential ambitions for the Loop include scooping up another downtown landmark out of distress.

A venture led by Calabria paid $4.2 million this month for the eight-story historic building at 401 South State Street, according to Cook County property records first reported by Costar.

The price is a steep markdown from the $68.1 million the building fetched in 2016, meaning the 484,800 office tower went for about $140 per square foot nine years ago and $8.65 per square foot today.

Designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney — widely credited as the father of the skyscraper — the 1891 building was a Siegel, Cooper & Co department store and later housed Sears, Roebuck & Co for decades. It’s been designated a national and Chicago landmark for nearly half a century, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which marketed the property via auction on behalf of special servicer CWCapital.

Robert Morris University was the last tenant, occupying the entire building until 2020, when it merged with Roosevelt University and exited the space. The property subsequently fell into default on $47.8 million in CMBS debt, and the lender took title more than two years before hiring brokers Kelsey Berry, Cody Hundertmark, Hunter Moss and Jeremiah Olsen to sell it.

Calabria, who heads Bloomingdale-based IMC Accounting & Tax, didn’t respond to the outlet’s request for comment, and his plans for the building are unclear. But his nearby project may offer a clue: He’s partnering with Chicago’s Primera Group to convert much of the 41-story Clark Adams Building at 105 West Adams Street into roughly 400 apartments, a redevelopment backed by nearly $68 million in city financing.

That proposal is part of Chicago’s initiative to bring more affordable housing and mixed uses to the Loop’s office-heavy core, particularly along State Street. The Clark Adams plan recently cleared a key step toward landmark designation despite ongoing legal disputes involving the property.

At 401 South State, Calabria inherits a full-block site at the southern edge of the Loop, between Van Buren Street and Ida B. Wells Drive. The sale also includes an adjacent mechanical structure. A 2023 study by the Urban Land Institute, the Chicago Loop Alliance and the city identified potential reuse options for the property, from apartments to an athletic complex.

— Eric Weilbacher