R2 Cos has been horse trading in the West Loop for the past year. The firm's latest deal is the acquisition of a portfolio of six loft office buildings in the West Loop and River North, and three parcels in the West Loop, in a JV with Walton Street Capital for $86M.

The buildings are at:

• 118 South Clinton (72k SF)

• 130 South Jefferson (77k SF)

• 445 West Erie in River North (53k SF)

• 542 South Dearborn in the South Loop (85k SF)

• 641 West Lake (107k SF)

• 901 West Jackson (shown, 55k SF)

The land sites are at:

• 640 West Randolph (12k SF)

• A 17k SF lot at Peoria and Green streets

• A 53k SF lot at 708 West Wayman

KIG principal and managing broker Susan Tjarksen helped broker the deal on behalf of the seller, Loft Development Corp.

R2 CIO Max Meyers tells Bisnow it's rare to acquire a creative office portfolio of this size in a heated market like the West Loop. The design and architecture of the buildings attracted R2 to the portfolio. A lot of R2's acquisitions are what Max calls character-driven assets, which can't be faked.

Walton Street also saw the long-term upside to the portfolio when R2 brought it to their attention, and Max says they are a great partner to work on this. Max says R2 will use its platform to unlock the potential of the buildings with value-add, while they and Walton Street weigh their options for the land.