Hello, newscenter-ga!
According to the Sears Tower website, the current owners are:
Property Owners:
Joseph Moinian (New York)
Joseph Chetrit (New York)
John Huston (Illinois)
http://www.searstower.org/home.html
I have found no reference to an "entity" name for this group of owners.
===
A 2004 article about the purchase can be read below: (cached link only)
"Real-Estate Trends Now Favor Moguls." By DEAN STARKMAN and RAY A. SMITH
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:qHsEI5OBL5sJ:homes.wsj.com/propertyreport/newsandtrends/20040517-smith.html+Chetrit+Group+Sears+tower&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5&client=firefox-a
"A key player in the deal to buy one of the best-known U.S. landmarks
is a little-known French-speaking, Moroccan-born New Yorker who
represents the return of the old-style real-estate mogul to an
industry increasingly dominated by institutional investors."
"In competing for the Sears Tower in March, the group including Joseph
Chetrit nabbed the building with an $840 million bid -- a price that
has caused jaws to drop among Chicago real-estate professionals. To
help land the deal, he offered a team of rival bidders a minority
portion of the deal -- or cash -- in return for backing away, people
familiar with the matter say. He also offered a nonrefundable down
payment of $30 million, and postclosing capital improvements that
would drive the total price over $925 million."
"Mr. Chetrit is a principal in Chetrit Group, a closely held company.
The family firm's investment in the Sears Tower is alongside those of
two other groups, an entity including Chicago investors Israel Gluck
and John Huston and the Moinian family of New York, say people
familiar with the deal. A spokeswoman for the ownership group, 233 S.
Wacker LLC, confirmed the deal's ownership structure.
"People close to the Chetrit side dispute that Mr. Chetrit was
particularly active in the deal. They say he was one of more than a
dozen negotiators, including the minority partners ultimately bought
out. Further, the people say Mr. Chetrit now is a "passive" investor
in the property with only a 9% personal stake and isn't an officer or
director of the actual buying entity, 233 S. Wacker. Mr. Chetrit's
older brother, Mayer Chetrit, is the general manager of the buyers'
group and signed key documents on the deal, the people say."
Read entire article....
===
The three owners are mentioned in this recent article:
UBS tosses $780-million rope to Sears Tower," by By Thomas A. Corfman.
Chicago Business Oct. 26, 2006
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=22610
"Sears Tower?s owners, a group that includes New York investors Joseph
Chetrit and Joseph Moinian as well as Skokie-based American Landmark
Properties Ltd., gambled on short-term interest rates - and won - when
they used $825 million in mostly floating-rate debt to acquire the
110-story skyscraper in April 2004. But this year, with short-term
rates rising above long-term rates, they have been under pressure to
refinance the massive debt."
"The 10-year loan is expected to close later this year, says John
Huston, executive vice-president with American Landmark."
==
Another recent article mentions the three owners by name:
From Sears Tower eateries lost $1.1 mil. in 7 months: suit. Nov. 2006
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=22692
"The fiasco is a costly misstep by Sears Tower's owners, a group that
includes Skokie-based American Landmark Properties Ltd. and two New
York real estate investors, Joseph Chetrit and Joseph Moinian."
===
Also read "Sears Tower owner seeks refinancing."
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19733
"Two years after paying $840 million for the Sears Tower, a group led
by New York investor Joseph Chetrit wants to refinance the 110-story
West Loop skyscraper. The partnership has hired Carlton Group, a New
York real estate investment bank, to explore refinancing the
building's $825-million mortgage and "bringing in an institutional
equity partner," says a person familiar with the situation. The
newsletter Real Estate Alert reported last week that the Chetrit-led
group wants to sell as much as $200 million in preferred equity in the
building."
===
While Israel Gluck is not mentioned on the Sears Tower site as a
current owner, I was able to find a short snippet about him from 2004.
"Chicago investor Israel "Al" Gluck, who has a small stake in the
group that recently bought the Sears Tower, is vying to become a
player in other large office deals around the country. Word has it
that Gluck's firm, American Landmark Properties, has spoken to other
companies about buying into existing partnerships that own major
properties."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FOS/is_2004_June_30/ai_n6267864
=====
Contact Information
This will be a very elusive group of individuals to contact! The
following websites and phone numbers are all I could uncover, despite
numerous database searches and article references. As with any
high-profile individual, there are often several barriers you must
pass through before you can suceed (hopefully) in talking to the
person in question! Joseph Moinian seems to be the most reachable
contact of the group.
The Chetrit Group (and Joseph Chetrit)
https://chetritgroup.com/
phone - (646) 230-9360
fax - (646) 230-9371
email - info@chetritgroup.com
* As you can see, even their website has NO information!
==
Joseph Moinian is CEO of the Moinian Group
Moinian Group
http://www.moiniangroup.com/index_aih.php
The Moinian Group
530 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10036
(212) 808-4000
Fax (212) 808-4118
info@moiniangroup.com
About Joseph Moinian
http://www.moiniangroup.com/about/joseph_moinian.php
==
I have found two possible contacts for American Landmark Properties, LTD.
John M. Huston, CPM - American Landmark Properties Ltd.
8114 Lawndale Avenue
Skokie, IL 60076
Phone: (847) 568-0808
Fax: (847) 568-1717
http://www.iremchicago.org/directorydetails.asp?mid=1026
American Landmark Properties Ltd.
1014 E Algonquin Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60173
(630) 766-6560
http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/yellowpages/ypresults.jsp?t=0&v=2&s=2&q=American+Landmark+Properties+Ltd.&ci=Skokie&st=IL&_requestid=586296
===
Just a little more about this wealthy group of private investors:
From "Will building buyers bust?" by Alison Gregor. The Real Deal. March 2005
http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/March_2005/1109907037.php
"All over Manhattan and this country?s urban centers, records are
being set for purchases of commercial and residential properties."
"A handful of private investors in New York City lead the ranks of
envelope-pushing buyers, beating out publicly traded companies and
real estate investment trusts with huge and lightning fast bids for
marquee properties. But some market watchers (and competitors) wonder
what might happen if interest rates start to rise or rents fail to
increase or both."
"This new class of property magnates may not have the household name
recognition of Donald Trump, but developer Joseph Moinian and his
sometimes associates, part of a group collectively known as "the New
York guys," are laying out bundles of cash for buildings all over the
country. Other members of the small private group include Joseph
Chetrit, David Werner, Lloyd Goldman and Jeffrey Feil."
"Moinian and Chetrit were part of a group that bought the Sears Tower
in Chicago last year, paying $840 million, and Werner and others
bought a $400 million, 50 percent stake in the Bank of America
building in San Francisco, also in 2004."
Read further...
====
I hope this information is helpful!
Sincerely,
umiat
Search Strategy
Sears Tower owners or ownership
entity ownership Sears Tower
Joseph Chetrit
The Chetrit Group
Joseph Moinian
The Moinian Group
John Huston American Landmark Properties Ltd
American Landmark Properties Ltd
Israel Gluck |
