CHICAGO – U.S. Equities Realty has arranged a 50,379 square-foot land sale at the southwest corner of State Street and Wacker Drive for seller Leo Burnett Company Inc. A partnership of European investors paid $39.5 million for the site, where Marriott’s Renaissance Chicago Hotel holds a land lease through 2085.

“With a premier riverfront location and the long-term tenancy of a prominent downtown Chicago hotel, this site was especially attractive to investors,” said Martin Stern, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of U.S. Equities. “This sale also reflects the continuing confidence international investors have shown in Chicago’s economic strength.”

Stern, along with U.S. Equities Vice President John Lynch, led the team representing the Chicago-based advertising agency that included Byrnam Wood LLC, a New York-based global real estate services firm. Bradley A. Olsen, President of North Carolina-based Atlantic Partners Ltd., advised the purchaser in the transaction.

“A variety of factors came into play in negotiating the transaction, including basic rents, percentage rents related to room revenues and basic rent reappraisals,” said Tom Trepanier, Senior Vice President and Director of Real Estate for Re:Sources USA, the shared services arm of Publicis Groupe SA, the parent company of The Leo Burnett Company. “U.S. Equities’ leadership and expertise were critical in addressing these complex elements and bringing the sale to a successful close.”