A Chicago developer has paid more than $21 million for a Wintrust Bank branch at Oak and Rush streets, adding to its nearby holdings as the posh corner of the Gold Coast undergoes major changes.
L3 Capital last month acquired the nearly 9,700-square-foot retail property at the base of the 38-story apartment tower at 2 E. Oak St., according to Cook County property records and CoStar data.
The property, which has an alternate address of 1000 N. Rush St., was sold by Wintrust Bank, which uses the space for a bank branch. The price was $21.5 million, and Wintrust provided an $18.5 million loan, county records show.
The 303-unit Two East Oak apartment tower is owned separately and was not part of L3 Capital's acquisition.
It’s unclear whether Wintrust plans to remain as a tenant or if L3, already an active developer in the high-rent neighborhood, plans to redevelop the property.
Property records show that a purchase and sale agreement was struck in November, which includes a “memorandum of profit sharing right” in which Wintrust would be entitled to a profit-sharing payment in circumstances such as L3 selling the property or refinancing the debt within five years.
L3 and Wintrust did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CoStar News on Thursday.
Wintrust has owned the property since its 2019 acquisition of Oak Bank, which had its only bank branch in the space.
L3 is adding to its Gold Coast portfolio as the luxury retail and dining district on and around Oak and Rush streets undergoes significant changes.
That includes L3’s soon-to-be-completed rebuild of the Carmine’s Bar & Lounge building at 1043 N. Rush St., with the restaurant set to reopen in the spring in the two-story, multitenant building.
L3’s Carmine’s rebuild is part of the changing face of the area, with Phil Stefani’s longtime Tavern on Rush restaurant at 1031-1035 N. Rush giving way to a new restaurant from the building’s longtime owners, called The Bellevue Chicago. Stefani shifted his longtime restaurant to space within the nearby Thompson Chicago hotel last year.
In another change, the restaurant group behind Adalina in the Gold Coast last year told CoStar News it plans a new concept in the former Fred’s restaurant space in the former Barneys building at 1-15 E. Oak St.
The fast-changing culinary scene is particularly noticeable in an area that had seen few significant changes in decades.
“It’s the heart of the Gold Coast, and really, it hasn’t changed,” Stefani told CoStar News in 2022.
L3 has previous experience owning and eventually changing over a financial institution’s space on Oak Street, which is home to luxury brands such as Cartier, Chanel, Prada and Hermes.
The Chicago investor bought a building at 120 E. Oak that was leased to Northern Trust in 2018. After a bank branch in the building closed in 2020, L3 in early 2023 struck a deal for Burdeen's Jewelry to take over the multilevel space.
L3 also owns properties in several other Chicago neighborhoods and throughout the country.