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For four years now, Chicago's office towers have been about as popular an investment as, say, ValuJet Airlines stock is now.
After the market tanked, most buildings that changed hands literally were given back -- returned by owners unable to meet mortgage payments to lenders who'd bankrolled the 1980s boom.
None but the most intrepid vultures -- Sam Zell with 1 N. Franklin St. in 1993 and, more recently, New York's Blackstone Group at 225 N. Michigan Ave. -- dared bet on recovery.
But now, driven by a flood of real estate-hungry capital and a modest but perceptible tightening in the still-overbuilt market, downtown is set for a comeback.
At least two major buildings -- IBM Plaza and One Illinois Center -- are officially on the block, and may trade as early as summer's end.
Interest in both properties has been robust, and both are expected to fetch more than first anticipated, though well below replacement costs, or what it would cost to build them today.
Deals on many, many more buildings that have long been unofficially on the market -- for the right price -- may not be far behind.
One glamorous possibility is NBC Tower, considered one of only a handful of Chicago's bona fide' trop properties.
"We've had a far stronger response from the marketplace," says Paul Barile, president of Chicago-based Homes Barile Realty Advisors, which is marketing One Illinois Center and in November sold 225 N. Michigan -- another Illinois Center property -- to Blackstone.
"There are a lot more people looking to buy in downtown Chicago," he says.
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