While the money Franklin Partners paid for an Oak Brook office building pales in comparison to some of the eye-popping suburban office deals reported recently, the future value of the acquisition lies outside the building's doors.

Franklin paid $18M for a 108k SF office building at 1900 Spring Road in Oak Brook. The asset is near Oakbrook Center Mall, which is a plus, but even better is that Franklin has room on the south side of the building for complementary restaurants and retail, Crain's reports. And Oak Brook village officials have long eyed a parking lot to the north as a site for a condo tower—a mandate the village is bullish on.

While Franklin weighs its options for developing the land, the firm will get to work upgrading amenities, leasing new tenants and moving its HQ to the building. [Crain's]