A joint venture has secured a $296 million refinance of its office tower at 321 N. Clark Street in River North, at a time when the Chicago office market continues to struggle with vacancies.
American Realty Advisors, Diversified Real Estate Capital and Hines landed the five-year, floating-rate loan from Nuveen Real Estate. JLL brokered the deal and announced the debt package.
Built in 1987, the tower underwent an $85 million renovation in 2019, which included work on its lobby and updating its amenities. Occupancy stands at 80 percent with the American Bar Association as its largest tenant.
The 937,000-square-foot complex sits across from Riverwalk, the pedestrian walkway that has attracted office, restaurant and entertainment development in recent years. Nearby office towers include 150 N. Riverside Plaza, and 110 N. Wacker. Salesforce Tower Chicago at 333 W. Wolf Point Plaza is under construction.
The office market is still battling the fallout from the pandemic, with the vacancy rate approaching 17 percent overall, though far higher in some pockets of the city.
Lenders have focused recently on newer properties in sectors like multifamily, industrial and life sciences, said JLL’s Keith Largay. Despite that, the North Clark Street refi drew “a number of aggressive lenders,” he said. “This shows there is ample debt capital out there in the market for those deals despite some of the perceived negative sentiments.”