311 S. Wacker Dr. Changes Hands

CHICAGO-Fremont Realty Capital, real estate entrepreneur Mark Karasick and Shorenstein Properties LLC, have purchased the 65-story 311 S. Wacker Dr. from Walton Street Capital. The 1.3-million-sf tower encompasses 350,000 sf of office space.

Karasick says the thee-member joint venture invested in the trophy building because it “matches up with the top new office towers in Chicago.” Karasick also owns 550 W. Jackson, and San Francisco-based Shorenstein currently owns the John Hancock Center and 500 W. Monroe.

J.F. McKinney & Associates has been appointed as the marketing and leasing agent for the project, while CB Richard Ellis will continue to provide property management. Neither the buyer nor the seller could be reached by press time to provide details on the sale amount. In March, New York City’s David Werner, a real estate entrepreneur, was rumored to have offered $280 million to $285 million for the building.

Constructed in 1990, 311 S. Wacker was designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates. At the time of its completion, it was owned by New York City-based Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. In 1998, it changed hands, giving ownership to El Segundo, CA-based TIAA Realty Inc.

In 2002, the building was purchased by locally based Walton Street Real Estate Fund III, LP for about $275 million. The fund, which closed in August 2000 with total equity commitments of $523 million, included the principals’ commitment of $53 million.

The tower is also the first Chicago building to win BOMA’s International TOBY award, which recognizes both the architecture and management of the building. The structure has floorplates ranging from 15,000 sf to 23,000 sf, and is tenant space ranges from 2,000 sf to 200,000 sf.