Miami investment firm acquires Chicago brick-and-beam office building

South Miami-based Market Street Real Estate Partners is buying a 143,000-square-foot office building in downtown Chicago, entering a new market as it continues to expand its nationwide portfolio.

Market Street, an investment and management company, is expected to acquire the vintage brick-and-beam building for about $24 million, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The seller, Michigan-based Farbman Group, had acquired the property in 2011 for $13.1 million. It is located at 209 West Jackson Boulevard.

The 12-story building’s net operating income last year was over $1.5 million, up from just over $900,000 in 2015. Its space is 89 percent leased, to 19 different tenants. The largest is payroll firm ADP, which has 23,000 square feet.

In Chicago’s Loop submarket, its proximity to major development may push the property’s value higher in the coming years, if the office market continues to hold strong.

Nearby Willis Tower, the city’s tallest building and among its top tourist destinations, is undergoing a $500 million renovation overseen by its owners, the Blackstone Group. That could boost traffic to 209 West Jackson’s retail space, which includes two fast food eateries.

The property is also a short walk from Chicago’s Old Main Post Office, a hulking, long-vacant 2.5-million-square-foot building being developed into Class A office space by New York-based 601W Companies. That site featured prominently in Chicago’s bid to become the host city for Amazon’s second headquarters.

In addition to Market Street’s two office properties in Miami, its portfolio includes others in California, Texas and Pennsylvania. [Crain’s] — Scott Klocksin