One of the city's most storied buildings on the western edge of the Loop, the 1929 Civic Opera House, is now on the market, according to Crain's. New York-based Berkley Properties, who bought the 44-story tower in 2012, have put it up for sale, with estimates of the final price tag hovering north of $200 million. Berkley will be pretty happy during its final bow, having acquired the building for $125.8 million. The Civic Opera House's exterior architectural sculptures, done by Henry Hering, also responsible for the "Night" and "Day" pieces at Union Station, don't scream high-tech, but the building has attracted numerous technology tenants. Berkley also added a 6,000-square-foot rooftop deck as part of almost $8 million in upgrades and helped widen the pool of tenants, which includes the ultra-green NRDC offices by Studio Gang. It all adds up to a historic building with plenty of commercial value.
Alas, the opera auditorium, the second-largest in the nation, isn't for sale. So even if you wanted to, you can't purchase it and pretend like your spouse is a famous soprano, as Samuel Insull, who footed half the bill for construction, supposedly did when the building opened in 1929.
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