A Minnesota-based firm is betting on Rosemont’s office scene with a major acquisition near O’Hare International Airport.
John Solberg’s real estate firm, Onward Investors, is set to acquire the One O’Hare office building at 6250 North River Road, Crain’s reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The building is being sold by a joint venture of Calgary-based MDC Realty Advisors and Vancouver-based Nicola Wealth Management
Cushman & Wakefield’s Cody Hundertmark, Tom Sitz, and Dan Deuter are managing the transaction on behalf of MDC, led by President Jeffery Kohn, and Nicola, founded by Chairman and CEO John Nicola.
Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but the 380,360-square-foot building was anticipated to fetch about $70 million when it hit the market earlier this year, which would be about $184 per square foot. A sale near that price would allow the sellers to retire their maturing $41.5 million mortgage on the property, but it would result in a substantial loss of equity for the joint venture.
After acquiring the 12-story building for $83 million in 2015, MDC and Nicola invested $5.5 million in capital improvements, including enhancements to a tenant lounge, fitness center and parking facilities.
The deal comes at a time when office landlords are facing heightened challenges from remote work, which has led to decreased demand, lower property values and an increase in foreclosures across the country. Nonetheless, Chicago-area office sales have shown some resilience, rising by 39 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to MSCI Real Assets.
One O’Hare has been a standout in the region, boasting 93 percent occupancy and an average lease term of seven years. Its two largest tenants — Reyes Holdings and Colliers — offer stability in an otherwise shaky market.
Reyes Holdings has been an anchor tenant since 2009, having expanded its office space by nearly 19 percent in recent years. The beverage distribution giant occupies almost half the building with 168,000 square feet.
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Onward Investors, which manages nearly $750 million in assets, has a diverse portfolio of office and industrial properties primarily located in Minnesota and Atlanta.
The property’s proximity to O’Hare has made attractive, even as other suburban office spaces struggle. The O’Hare submarket currently boasts a vacancy rate of 24.3 percent, compared to the suburban Chicago average of 31.3 percent, according to JLL.
— Andrew Terrell