Bank OZK, Lionheart Provide $215M in Funding for Chicago Office Redevelopment
601W Companies has landed a $215 million loan to redevelop an office building in Chicago, Commercial Observer has learned.
Lionheart Strategic Management originated the $67.6 million mezzanine loan and preferred equity financing for Milestone Asset Management. Bank OZK (OZK) provided the $147.5 million senior loan for the project.
Andy Klein and Sang Kim led the transaction for Lionheart Strategic Management. JLL brokered the deal.
The financing will help 601W turn the property at 801 South Canal Street into a 700,000-square-foot office building. The project is in the Southwest Loop neighborhood and sits one block from 601W’s $1 billion redevelopment of the Old Chicago Main Post Office building into an office project with an 18,000-square-foot food hall, according to a release.
“We were attracted to the deal because you’ve got one of the top private owners of office real estate in Chicago,” Klein, a managing director and co-head of investments at Lionheart Strategic Management, said.”We’re excited to witness the transformation of this asset.”
“The West Loop of Chicago is probably one of the best neighborhoods in the U.S. for attracting new companies,” Sebastian Post, managing director at Lionheart, said. “I think Class-A product in great locations is still attractive to both domestic and foreign investors.”
It’s not the first time the two lenders have teamed up, with Lionheart and Bank OZK recently giving $150 million in funding for a residential project in Miami by Two Roads Development, the release said.
Officials at 601W Companies and Bank OZK did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update: This story originally misattributed source material. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Emily Fu can be reached at efu@commercialobserver.com.
