CRE News: What We’re Reading the Week of September 26

Each week, The Elevator Speech summarizes news related to some of the key industry trends, buildings, deals and dealmakers that shaped headlines. Here’s what caught our attention the week of September 26:

• 

  200 W. Madison Street

  Multi-Employer Property Trust purchased 200 W. Madison St. for $217.5 million. The Class A office building is 928,040-square-feet and 88 percent leased.

• 2011 is shaping up to be the strongest year for downtown Chicago apartment sales in at least four years. Investors have spent almost $1 billion on local apartment building acquisitions so far this year.

• The iconic Wrigley Building’s sale last week demonstrates that Chicago’s downtown office buildings remain hot assets for investors.

• 

  200 N. Michigan Avenue

  John Buck Co., best known for building office towers on Wacker Drive, is looking to develop at 200 N. Michigan Ave. The project could include retail, residential and hospitality space.

• As the office sector enters a new stage of recovery, properties in Heartland cities like Chicago have become good acquisition bets.

• World Business Chicago has developed a “Site Selector” tool that pairs prospective businesses with available Chicago real estate. Site Selector takes user-submitted input about the needs and characteristics of a prospective Chicago business and produces color-coded maps that isolate areas zoned for that type of commerce, connecting users with specific real estate currently available.

What headlines caught your attention this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.