Sterling Bay unloads Google-anchored offices for $169M

Fulton Market-based developer Sterling Bay sold a 12-story, Google-anchored office building at 210 N. Carpenter Street to German investment firm Deka Immobilien for $169 million. The deal represents the second-highest office sale price this year, according to a Sterling Bay spokesperson. 

Completed in 2019, 210 North Carpenter was originally envisioned as a "vendor village" for food-related firms following McDonald's corporate relocation to the West Loop. Instead, Google's cloud division ended up leasing more than half of the 206,315-square-foot building. 

Other tenants in the fully-leased property include rEvolution Marketing, S2G Ventures, and Leopardo Companies—which served as the general contractor during the construction of 210 N. Carpenter. The building's ground-floor retail space is home to un•cooked vegan restaurant and a CVS pharmacy.

Architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the project with masonry lower floors to evoke the warehouses of the surrounding Fulton Randolph Historic District. The upper floors are more glassy and contemporary in appearance and house many of the building amenities such as a lap pool, tenant lounge, gaming area, fitness center, and terrace. The building also includes indoor parking for 40 cars. 

"As Chicago continues to navigate its way out of the pandemic, developments like 210 N. Carpenter deliver critical financial opportunities that bolster our city's local economy and increase its visibility with foreign investors," said Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor in a statement following the transaction. "Sterling Bay is proud to have completed the sale of 210 N. Carpenter, further reinforcing Fulton Market–and Chicago–as an attractive destination for global business."

As one of Fulton Market's earliest and most prolific real estate developers, Sterling Bay was also behind Google's midwest headquarters at 1K Fulton and the aforementioned McDonald's HQ at 110 N. Carpenter. The company recently broke ground on a 200,000-square-foot office building at 345 N. Morgan, and it aims to welcome tenants to an upcoming 485,000-square-foot commercial building at 1200 W. Carroll in 2023.

Sterling Bay is also starting to expand into residential development in the West Loop area, where it plans a 350-unit building at 1245 W. Fulton and a 282-apartment tower at 160 N. Morgan.