Invesco is buying the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue for $79 million, less than a year after Walton Street Capital sought to sell it and a nearby retail space for $175 million.
Atlanta-based Invesco is acquiring the glassy 20,000-square-foot store on the Chicago River on behalf of an institutional investor, according to Crain’s.
Chicago-based Walton Street in 2017 paid $370 million for the property at 401 North Michigan Avenue, which includes the Apple store and the nearby 35-story office tower. In March 2018, the firm hired Eastdil Secured to market the store and the 10,000 square feet of retail inside the tower.
It’s unclear whether Walton Street is still trying to sell the other retail space, according to Crain’s, which said the roughly $3,900 per square foot Invesco paid for the property is the fifth-highest price paid for a Chicago retail property.
The store reportedly pays roughly $125 per square foot in rent, which the Wall Street Journal cited is well below the typical $400 or $500 per square foot charged on the Magnificent Mile. The storied retail strip is dealing with a number of vacancies, including the Apple Store’s former home a few blocks north. The Mag Mile vacancy rate last year was up 4 percent over 2015. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien