CHICAGO — Google has agreed to buy the soon-to-be-renovated James R. Thompson Center in heart of the Loop, a victory for Chicago’s central business district and for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker as he seeks reelection and fends off criticism over recent high-profile corporate departures.
Under the Google deal, announced at a Wednesday morning news conference in the soaring atrium of the Helmut Jahn-designed building, the state will be paid $30 million in cash and get the title to the former BMO Harris Bank headquarters at 115 S. LaSalle Street, valued at $75 million, which will become a state office building.
It is an updated version of a previously announced agreement to sell the Thompson Center to a group led by developer Michael Reschke for a $70 million upfront cash payment. That deal called for the state to buy back about a third of the renovated 1.2 million-square-foot building for more than double that amount.
