The Opportunity

This highly visible, eleven story, 317,000 SF office building is situated at a major interchange on Interstate 290 providing outstanding highway exposure. IBM had previously housed an operational center at this location but vacated the entire building leaving one of the largest contiguous blocks of office space in the Northwestern suburbs. It was in need of redevelopment to reposition the asset for lease up.

The Strategy & Execution

The strategy was to reposition the property through capital improvements and create a contemporary corporate office tower by installing new glass floor-to-ceiling curtain wall at both entrances, renovating and expanding the main lobby and upgrading restrooms, common areas and HVAC. Since the property fronted a highway, the new exterior would make the building more prominent which would entice a large corporate to place their name on this property. The asset that was delivered met the high standards Keystone places on its assets.

The Result

Keystone repositioned the asset into an institutional quality asset and leased it to a full building user, Career Education Corporation ("CEC"), for twelve years. The location is now their world-wide corporate headquarters and prominently displays their corporate logo at the top. However, CEC required additional parking at the site so a parking garage was constructed on site containing 550 parking spots. At the time of the signing of the lease, it was the fifth largest transaction in the suburban market in a decade. NAIOP Chicago awarded this building Best Office Redevelopment of the Year for 2010 and the Best Suburban Lease. Also this building was awarded the LEED Silver Certification by U.S. Green Building Council.

To find out more about Keystone, contact our team today.