Boeing Sells Former Chicago HQ to Hines, Stahl

Boeing officially cashed out of its former Chicago headquarters, selling the 36-story tower along the Chicago River for $22 million, marking another step in the firm’s slow retreat from the city.

The aerospace giant sold its leasehold interest in the building at 100 North Riverside Plaza late last month to a joint venture of New York-based Stahl Organization and Houston developer Hines, according to property records and people familiar with the deal, CoStar reported. The Real Deal reported in November that Hines was in talks to buy the property, though Stahl’s role as a partner was not clear at the time.

Sterling Bay previously had the tower under contract over the summer, reportedly for $25 million to $30 million. That would have been $32 per square foot to $39 per square foot for the 777,400-square-foot building.

That deal collapsed, however. A Sterling Bay spokesperson said in a statement to TRD in November that the firm’s due diligence “did not support advancing a transaction in the current market conditions.”

The Hines-Stahl deal lands the sale at closer to $28 per square foot.

The modest price tag reflects the deal’s structure, because it was the leasehold, not the land beneath the tower that changed hands. Stahl already owns the underlying property and controls it through a 99-year ground lease that runs through 2084. With Stahl now part-owner of the building itself, the complicated ownership structure could eventually be simplified by eliminating the ground lease altogether.

As part of the deal, Boeing will lease back about 70,440 square feet across floors 27 through 29, according to property records. The lease runs from September 2026 through August 2032, with options to extend for up to another decade. Boeing, Stahl and Hines declined to comment to CoStar. Cushman & Wakefield brokers Jeff Cole, Cody Hundertmark and Tom Sitz represented Boeing.

Stahl recently refinanced its land ownership beneath the building with a $40 million loan maturing in 2031, Cook County records show.

Hines is a familiar name along the river, having developed nearby River Point and Salesforce Tower. The firm has been on the hunt for large tenants to fill vacancies at 100 North Riverside, a nearly 30-year-old building that needs capital and leasing momentum, but benefits from a prime location in a market short on newer riverfront offices.

Boeing relocated its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001, later buying the building for $165.2 million in 2005. In 2022, Boeing moved its corporate address to Arlington, Virginia, and said it had about 400 employees remaining in Chicago.

— Eric Weilbacher