Willis Tower Value Drops Below Blackstone's $1.3B Loan Balance
The latest appraisal for Chicago's Willis Tower values the high-rise at $1.03B – about $270M less than the $1.3B balance on Blackstone's loan for the property.
The valuation also represents a steep drop from the nearly $1.8B value assigned to the property in 2018, when the city's tallest tower was refinanced with CMBS debt, according to CoStar.
The latest appraisal was included in a Thursday alert by Morningstar Credit, which said the loan backed by the skyscraper was recently modified, pushing its maturity date from March 2025 to March 2028. The new appraisal resulted from the 4M SF property entering special servicing as part of the negotiations around extending the loan, according to CoStar.
“Our recent extension to the loan term reflects our continued belief in the strength of Willis Tower,” a Blackstone representative told Bisnow in an emailed statement. “We believe the building’s transformative renovation has positioned it for success, as demonstrated by over 400,000 square feet of leasing in the past 18 months and more than 1.2 million annual Skydeck visitors.”
A loan modification report associated with the extension indicates that the $1.03B appraisal was based on existing conditions at the property, but it also assumes that the property will be stabilized in February 2027, at which point its value would rise to $1.2B.
The property was 87% occupied as of Jan. 31, robust when considered next to the 29.1% total availability rate in Chicago's central business district in the first quarter.
The tower is also on a relative upswing. Net operating income at Willis Tower was more than $119M in 2024, up from about $117M in 2023 and just under $86M in 2022, according to the loan modification report.
