Pfizer Agrees To $19.8 Million Sale Of Lake Forest Office Building

LAKE FOREST, IL — A Toronto-based firm last week agreed to buy a Lake Forest office building for nearly $20 million.

The building at 275 N. Fields Drive has recently been retrofitted, and its seller, the large pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has a long-term lease at the site.

It currently has nearly 198,000 rentable square feet, with an opportunity lease more than 65,000 square feet of additional space, according to an announcement from the contract purchaser, Slate Office REIT.

Representatives of the Canadian real estate investment trust announced the deal claiming the property was in "Chicago, Illinois," but Crain's Chicago Business identified the property as the Field Drive office building that had been the headquarters of Hospira before it was purchased by Pfizer seven years ago.

Slate representatives said the deal is expected to generate about $1.66 million in net operating income in the first year of ownership.

“In pursuing this Acquisition, we are continuing to enhance the quality and scale of our investments, highlighting Slate Office REIT’s long-term strategy of aligning its portfolio with the right credit tenants to provide both stable cash flow and yield to our unitholders," Steve Hodgson, CEO of the trust, said in a statement.

According to Crain's, the deal is the latest example of commercial real estate investors buying office buildings with single tenants, as office buildings with more tenants have wound up with more vacancies.

"We are pleased with this offering," Hodgson said, "as it proactively strengthens the REIT’s liquidity position, demonstrating our continued momentum and growth.”

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