Napleton Auto Group buys Oakbrook Terrace Tower

The Napleton Automotive Group has purchased the landmark Oakbrook Terrace Tower.

The 31-story building at One Tower Lane was bought for $60 million, according to DuPage County records. Oakbrook Terrace cited it as the tallest building west of Chicago to the Rocky Mountains.

The deed with private equity company Blackstone was signed Oct. 27 and the documents recorded with the county on Nov. 8, records show.

The sale is for three parcels including the 732,000-square-foot tower and a smaller industrial building.

The Helmut Jahn project, completed in 1987 on the site of the former Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom and Castle of Toys, was built for $80 million, according to a 1997 Daily Herald story.

Calculated off real estate transfer taxes from the DuPage County recorder of deeds, prior sales of the property were for $90 million in 2015 and $96 million in 2007 for all three parcels.

The county listed the tower building as having a fair cash value of $102 million. The other two parcels were valued at $3.78 million and $3.97 million based on 2022 property tax bills.

The recent sale price indicates the downturn in the market for office space.

"We aim to invest in sectors with strong fundamentals propelled by macro demand trends, which is why the majority of the real estate we own is in sectors like logistics, student housing and data centers, and why less than 2% of our owned portfolio is traditional U.S. office," said a Blackstone spokesperson.

The Ed Napleton Automotive Group, founded in Chicago in 1931, owns 74 franchises in seven states. Its website lists One Oakbrook Terrace, Suite 600, as its address. A company representative did not immediately return messages seeking comment.