Tom’s Recommended Reading for the Week

Check out the top Chicago commercial real estate news before heading into the weekend!

1. CBRE and Bankers Life fight in court over headquarters move – CBRE Inc. is fighting in court with Bankers Life & Casualty Insurance Co., which accuses the brokerage of botching its headquarters move to the East Loop by failing to account for expenses it incurred as part of the shift. In a court filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Bankers Life asks a federal judge to overturn an arbitration panel’s decision to side with CBRE in the dispute. The main source of conflict is the insurer’s sublease of about 220,000 square feet at 600 W. Chicago Ave. to Groupon in 2011, space it vacated in its subsequent move to 111 E. Wacker Drive… Crain’s Chicago
   
2. Deutsche Bank paying $300 million for West Loop office tower – Amid competitive bidding for downtown Chicago office towers, a unit of Deutsche Bank A.G. has made a pre-emptive strike to buy a West Loop office tower for about $300 million. The venture of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management forged an unusual deal for Fifth Third Center, a 35-story tower at 222 S. Riverside Plaza, before Dallas-based owner TIER REIT Inc. formally put it on the market, according to a person familiar with the deal… Crain’s Chicago
   
3. Foreign Investors Chase Yield, Saftey in U.S. Office Sector – Foreign buyers increased their investment in the U.S. commercial real estate markets in the first half of 2014, pouring in $85.4 billion in property purchases here compared to $76.7 billion in the first half of 2013. Almost half of foreign investment this year, about $37.8 billion, went into the office market, as buyers from countries including China, Russia and Canada fought over trophy properties in major markets. Sales volume was highest in New York City, at $9.4 billion, with $4.6 billion in sales in Los Angeles and just more than $3 billion each in Boston and Washington D.C., according to a recent report by real estate services firm Avison Young… NREI
   
4. Golub ventures buying two suburban office properties – Ventures of Golub & Co. have deals to buy two office properties in the Chicago suburbs, an area some investors are scouring for higher returns than they can find downtown. Chicago-based Golub and Boston-based private-equity firm Alcion Ventures L.P. have agreed to pay about $57 million, or $150 per square foot, for the four-building Oak Brook Executive Plaza, according to real estate sources. Meanwhile, a venture of Golub and a Middle Eastern fund manager have a deal to buy the 11-story International Tower near O’Hare International Airport, sources said. That price could not be determined… Crain’s Chicago
5. Space Shift: As Wealthiest Flock to Supertall Condos, Offices Go Horizontal – In Midtown Manhattan, the extra-slim 432 Park Ave. condo tower is scheduled Tuesday to reach its peak 1,396-foot height and become the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere, 146-feet taller than the roof of the Empire State Building. But the crowning of the 104-unit tower—which hosts a $95 million penthouse—marks more than just the latest of the super-tall condos for the ultra-rich… Wall Street Journal