This month’s bombshell $550M deal for 1 N. Wacker Drive marked one of the priciest office deals in the U.S. in 2026 and a potential turning point for a Chicago office market that has largely been defined by bargain-bin buys over the past few years.
The $392-per-SF price of Zara founder Amancio Ortega’s acquisition dwarfs every large office sale in Chicago since the start of 2024. It also marks the first time a property over 700K SF has appreciated in a trade during that period, according to data from CRE analytics platform Lightbox.
“One North, just by the nature of its sale, has made people question, ‘Wow, I thought I had left Chicago for dead, and now look at this, $400 per SF,’” Lightbox Head of Data Strategy Manus Clancy said.
Chicago Office Building Sales Of More Than 700K SF Since 2024
Data courtesy of Lightbox
Hover over or tap a marker for details.
Sale price vs. prior sale:Increase−50% to −65%−65% to −80%More than −80%No prior price
Sale price
$550M
Sale date
Oct. 14, 2026
Size
1,400,000 SF
Price per sf
$392
Prior sale
$470M (2011)
Change vs. prior
+17.0%
Buyer Amancio Ortega
Seller Irvine Co.
Sale price
$55M
Sale date
June 15, 2026
Size
862,000 SF
Price per sf
$63
Prior sale
$126M (2014)
Change vs. prior
−56.3%
Buyer Menashe Properties
Seller La Caisse
3
131 S. Dearborn St.
Citadel Center in the Loop
Sale price
$137M
Sale date
June 4, 2026
Size
1,500,000 SF
Price per sf
$91
Prior sale
$560M (2006)
Change vs. prior
−75.5%
Buyer Kohan Retail Investment Group
Seller Not disclosed
Sale price
$25M
Sale date
May 21, 2026
Size
815,074 SF
Price per sf
$30
Prior sale
$243M (2014)
Change vs. prior
−89.7%
Buyer Prime Group
Seller Manulife Financial
Sale price
$125M
Sale date
March 27, 2026
Size
1,100,000 SF
Price per sf
$113
Prior sale
$331.2M (2013)
Change vs. prior
−62.3%
Buyer Onni Group
Seller Not disclosed
Sale price
$100M
Sale date
March 24, 2026
Size
966,000 SF
Price per sf
$103
Prior sale
$412M (2019)
Change vs. prior
−75.7%
Buyer Glenstar and Patrick Halloran
Seller Not disclosed
Sale price
$25M
Sale date
Jan. 18, 2026
Size
900,000 SF
Price per sf
$27
Prior sale
Not available
Change vs. prior
Not available
Buyer Kohan Retail Investment Group
Seller AmTrust RE
Sale price
$132.5M
Sale date
Jan. 15, 2026
Size
747,522 SF
Price per sf
$177
Prior sale
$360M (2017)
Change vs. prior
−63.2%
Buyer Walton Street Capital
Seller Real Capital Solutions
9
100 N. Riverside Plaza
Boeing HQ
Sale price
$22M
Sale date
Dec. 18, 2025
Size
776,000 SF
Price per sf
$28
Prior sale
$165M (2005)
Change vs. prior
−86.7%
Buyer Stahl Organization and Hines
Seller Boeing
Sale price
$55M
Sale date
Oct. 27, 2025
Size
798,000 SF
Price per sf
$68
Prior sale
$230M (2019)
Change vs. prior
−76.1%
Buyer Namdar Realty Group; Mason Asset Management
Seller Beacon Capital Partners; U. S. Bank
Sale price
$68M
Sale date
Jan. 29, 2025
Size
761,775 SF
Price per sf
$89
Prior sale
$215M (2013)
Change vs. prior
−68.4%
Buyer Glenstar and Patrick Halloran
Seller Manulife Financial
Sale price
$88.7M
Sale date
Jan. 23, 2025
Size
1,600,000 SF
Price per sf
$55
Prior sale
$510M (2018)
Change vs. prior
−82.6%
Buyer 3Edgewood
Seller Sterling Bay and its investment partner, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Sale price
$63M
Sale date
Dec. 17, 2024
Size
943,581 SF
Price per sf
$66
Prior sale
$182M (2018)
Change vs. prior
−65.4%
Buyer 601W
Seller Beacon Capital Partners
14
8600 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
Presidents Plaza
Sale price
$62M
Sale date
Oct. 30, 2024
Size
831,442 SF
Price per sf
$74
Prior sale
$147M (2018)
Change vs. prior
−57.8%
Buyer Glenstar
Seller Not disclosed
Sale price
$100M
Sale date
Sept. 17, 2024
Size
1,400,000 SF
Price per sf
$71
Prior sale
$374.6M (2014)
Change vs. prior
−73.3%
Buyer FRI Investors
Seller Hearn, GEM Realty Capital and Farallon Capital Management
Sale price
$125M
Sale date
July 2, 2024
Size
867,600 SF
Price per sf
$144
Prior sale
$320.5M (2015)
Change vs. prior
−61.0%
Buyer Beacon Capital Partners
Seller AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust
Sale price
$70M
Sale date
Jan. 8, 2024
Size
1,300,000 SF
Price per sf
$53
Prior sale
$302M (2014)
Change vs. prior
−76.8%
Buyer Murphy Development Group CEO John Murphy and InSite Real Estate Managing Director Gerald Kostelny
Seller Zeller Realty Group and Cindat Capital Management
See all 17 sales
11 N. Wacker Drive$550MOct. 14, 2026
2180 N. LaSalle St.$55MJune 15, 2026
3131 S. Dearborn St.$137MJune 4, 2026
455 W. Monroe St.$25MMay 21, 2026
5161 N. Clark St.$125MMarch 27, 2026
6500 W. Monroe St.$100MMarch 24, 2026
733 W. Monroe St.$25MJan. 18, 2026
8401 N. Michigan Ave.$132.5MJan. 15, 2026
9100 N. Riverside Plaza$22MDec. 18, 2025
10190 S. LaSalle St.$55MOct. 27, 2025
11200 S. Wacker Drive$68MJan. 29, 2025
12600 W. Chicago Ave.$88.7MJan. 23, 2025
13303 E. Wacker Drive$63MDec. 17, 2024
148600 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.$62MOct. 30, 2024
1570 W. Madison St.$100MSept. 17, 2024
16333 W. Wacker Drive$125MJuly 2, 2024
17311 S. Wacker Drive$70MJan. 8, 2024
Clancy said the Ortega buy is indicative of what he’s seeing in top-shelf office sales across the country: Premium properties can still nail a premium price. New York City’s Park Avenue Tower sold for $730M in January, and San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid traded for $691M in April.
Still, the Chicago office market has largely featured significant discount sales in the past few years. The average discount across the office sales above 700K SF with a previous sale price was 71.4%. Those sales totaled $1.2B, compared to $4.5B when the properties were last sold.
Sales of the scale of 1 N. Wacker give potential sellers on the sideline a “bona fide comp” at the top of the market that can instill confidence and potentially push them to move other properties of that tier, Clancy said. Owners who may have been staring down major investment to upgrade a property’s amenities, common areas and unleased space may reconsider.
The sale also presents an alternative path instead of a sale with the intention of office-to-residential conversion, Clancy said.
“People are now kind of rubbing their chin, saying, ‘Hmm, office-to-resi is not easy. Maybe office-to-better-office is the way to go,’” he said. “That’s where the calculus changes with this big Zara owner sale.”
But the sale doesn’t move the floor for Class-B and C offices, Clancy said. There have been enough transactions at that tier of the market that investors know the expected price point, roughly between $40 per SF and $70 per SF.
“The have-nots are faced with taking their castor oil, if you will, taking their medicine, or trying to play out a conversion play,” Clancy said. “I don’t think there’s anything with this sale that turns that.”
A potential turning point for those owners could be a scenario where artificial leasing reaches the heights of the tech leasing boom, Clancy said. If a situation arises where AI companies need so much space that they have to settle for buildings below the top-shelf properties, it could provide a boost to older office towers.
What if an AI leasing boom doesn’t bear fruit?
“We’re stuck in the marsh,” Clancy said.
To see another office sale of this magnitude in the city, Clancy said it may take investors believing in a tech leasing boom and the returns from investing in an “A-minus” office property.
“These things can change on a dime,” Clancy said. “If you get a firm like an Anthropic coming in tomorrow saying, ‘We want 300K SF in downtown Chicago. We want to expand our footprint.’ The winds can change very, very quickly.”
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