THE CUTTING ROOM FLOORS
Macy’s to sell floors 8 through 14 of State Street store for $ 30 million
Macy’s Inc. has signed a deal to sell the top half of its Loop store to a developer who plans to convert the space to offices.
The company announced in a news release Wednesday the sale of floors 8 through 14 of its State Street store in Chicago to a private real estate fund sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management. Those floors, now largely unused, would become “dynamic, creative office space,” according to a Macy’s news release.
Macy’s will receive $ 30 million.
The company had announced last year that it was looking to sell the floors above its iconic Walnut Room dining area on the building’s seventh floor, calling the WalnutRoom “a cherished tradition.”
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly said Macy’s decision to sell the upper floors at the State Street store “sounds like good news for Macy’s and their shoppers” in Chicago.
Some shoppers fear that Macy’s decision to sell the half of the block- long store to a developer could be the beginning of the end for the State Street Store.
To many shoppers, the store has been dying a slow death ever since the Marshall Field’s name was removed. Reilly made the opposite argument.
The $ 30 million sale will “help Macy’s bottom line” and “fill the upper floors” with new office tenants, thus securing the store’s future on State Street, the alderman said.
“That will add value to the property as a whole, and the new office density on the site will likely mean more foot traffic, more sales and, hopefully, improved business for Macy’s,” Reilly wrote.