Irvine Company has completed the sale of One North Wacker, a prominent 51-story office tower in Chicago, to Ponte Gadea, the family investment firm of Zara founder Amancio Ortega. The buyer acquired the building for approximately $550 million, according to reporting cited from Crain’s. As part of the transaction, Ponte Gadea is assuming a $353 million CMBS loan that Irvine Company obtained in 2021, providing continuity on the building’s existing debt structure.
One North Wacker totals about 1.4 million square feet of office space and was delivered to the market in 2001. The tower is currently reported to be 94 percent occupied, underscoring its position as a stabilized, institutional-quality asset in Chicago’s office market. The sale was brokered by Bryan Rosenberg of Eastdil Secured Savills, who represented the parties in the disposition.
The property has seen several notable ownership transitions since its completion. The John Buck Company originally completed the building and subsequently sold it in 2008 to a venture led by Hines Interests for $540 million. Hines later exited its investment through separate transactions in 2011 and 2015, transferring ownership to Irvine Company for a combined total of $539 million. The latest sale to Ponte Gadea at approximately $550 million reflects a modest premium to those prior trades over a multiyear period.
Irvine Company has invested in the asset during its hold period, most recently undertaking a significant amenity upgrade. In 2024, the firm spent $10 million renovating the tower’s 17,000-square-foot amenity floor. The improvements included the addition of a lounge and coffee bar, a 4,600-square-foot conferencing center, and an expansion of the building’s fitness center, enhancements aimed at strengthening the property’s appeal to tenants and supporting its high occupancy level.
The sale of One North Wacker continues the building’s track record as a transaction-tested Class A office asset, with successive institutional owners and a history of sizable capital commitments to both acquisition and repositioning. For Ponte Gadea, the acquisition adds a large, recently upgraded, and substantially leased Chicago office tower to its global real estate portfolio, while Irvine Company exits an investment that has seen relatively stable pricing across multiple ownership cycles.
