AHA Signs for 115,000 SF at New Wacker Tower

CHICAGO-American Hospital Association, headquartered here, has signed a lease for 115,000 sf at 155 N. Wacker Dr. The more than 1.1-million-sf office building is being developed by locally based John Buck Co. in a joint venture with Morgan Stanley’s Prime Property Fund and Brijus Properties. The lease is long-term.

The association will occupy floors four through eight of the 46-story building. J. Frank Franzese and Natalie Lopez, both with Cushman & Wakefield, represented AHA in the lease transaction. AHA currently leases a larger amount of space, about 140,000 sf, at 1 N. Franklin St., says Franzese, EVP. “They are moving into more efficient space,” he says. AHA will move into the new building in March 2010.

The building is nearly 35% preleased, Franzese. The estimated cost of the project is about $370 million, as previously reported by GlobeSt.com. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has signed a lease for 165,000 sf, or about 15% of the building. The firm is scheduled to move into the building July 2009, Franzese says. Also, Bridge Finance Group LLC has signed a lease for 82,683 sf on the top three floors of the tower, with plans to move into the building in March 2010, according to a press release from John Buck Co. Bridge Finance Group is currently headquartered at the Sears Tower and also has offices in Atlanta, Hartford, Los Angeles and New York City.

The asking lease rate for the tower depends on the floor but is “probably in the mid to high $30′s, net” he says. The architect for the building is Goettsch Partners, according to information on John Buck Co.’s website. The tower, which will have floor plates of 27,570 sf, will have a 160-space parking garage in addition to being connected, via a sky-bridge, to a 1,200-space parking garage. The building will also have some retail on the ground floor, Franzese says.