Envoi Partners to Buy Chicago's McCormick Building Office Space, Plans Apartment Conversion

Envoi Partners has entered a contract to purchase the 14-story office portion of 332 South Michigan Avenue, known as the McCormick Building, to resolve a $29 million foreclosure lawsuit against owner Aetna, and is weighing converting the space into apartments. The 116-year-old building was appraised at $13.4 million in January, down from $56 million in 2016, when it was 83 percent leased. Aetna bought the property for $29 million in 2004. The deal follows Envoi's similar effort at 19 South LaSalle Street, where it bought a 16-story building out of foreclosure and is converting 140,000 square feet of office space into 175 apartment units. The office-to-apartment strategy has coincided with a recovery in the downtown Chicago office market, where vacancy rates fell this year for the first time in 15 straight quarters and then declined again for a second consecutive quarter.