UPDATE, July 5, 2:20 p.m.: The Blackstone Group refinanced River North Point, formerly known as the Apparel Mart, with a $310 million loan from Goldman Sachs, paying off a $245 million mortgage with Wells Fargo.
The refinancing comes three years after the New York-based real estate equity firm bought the 24-story building at 350 North Orleans Street for $378 million, according to property records.
The 1.3 million-square-foot office building includes the headquarters of shopping mall owner GGP and a 525-key Holiday Inn Hotel, and is the former home of the Chicago Sun-Times.
It stands between the 4.2-million-square-foot Merchandise Mart and Magellan Development Group’s three-tower Wolf Point development, whose second building is set to open next year.
Blackstone bills itself as the world’s largest real estate private equity firm, with $120 billion in global assets. The company bought Chicago’s Willis Tower in 2015 for $1.3 billion, and earlier this year took out a more than $1.3 billion refinancing on it.
The company embarked last year on a $500 million renovation and expansion of the 110-story skyscraper, and Blackstone said it plans renovations at River North Point as well, including a new tenant lounge, conference center and fitness center.