Tribune Media has completed the sale of its iconic namesake Tribune Tower to LA-based CIM Group and local partner Golub & Co. Announced in late August, the deal closed for $205 million in cash with an additional payment of up to $35 million contingent upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. The purchase clears a path for the mixed-use redevelopment of the 36-story Chicago landmark and its adjacent parcels and will likely include a combination of retail, office, residential, and hotel.
Though the surrounding, non-landmarked parcels could support up to 2.4 million square feet of new mixed-use space, CIM and Golub realize the need to be mindful of the tower’s surroundings as they proceed. Downtown Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) has reportedly already vowed to oppose any new development that would obscure the 1925 neo-Gothic tower from either the Michigan Avenue Bridge or Odgen Slip.
"Our intent is to maintain the tower and the views around it," Avi Shemesh, co-founder and principal of CIM told the Chicago Tribune. "We will do everything we can to maintain as much as possible and not just build to the maximum allowable limits." Shemesh also expressed CIM’s interest in adapting "the facades and perhaps even the entire buildings" situated east of the landmarked tower.
While the Mag Mile property’s new owners have yet to announce an architect for the project, a preliminary design for the site will be drafted over the next six to nine months. According to the Tribune report, redevelopment work is expected to begin in earnest by the fall of 2018. The lease for tower’s largest tenant, tronc (previously known as Tribune Publishing), is set to expire around that same time.
- Tribune Tower sold for mixed-use redevelopment [Chicago Tribune]
- Sale of Tribune Tower closes [Crain’s]
- Chicago's Tribune Tower and neighboring development site to fetch for $240M [Curbed Chicago]