09/03/2014
Citizens Financial Group Co-Finances Landmark Office Tower in Chicago
Citizens provides Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner services for O’Donnell Investment Company’s 150 North Riverside project, future headquarters of William Blair & Co.
CHICAGO, IL (September 3, 2014) – Citizens Financial Group announced today that the bank is serving as joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner for a $296 million commercial construction loan to finance the development of 150 North Riverside, a 53-story, 1.2 million-square-foot office tower on the Chicago River in the city’s premier West Loop office submarket.
The modern tower, situated between Lake and Randolph streets at the confluence of the three branches of the Chicago River, will offer easy access to public transportation and views of the river and downtown Chicago. A 1.5-acre public park surrounding the property will help create a river walk area for city residents and tourists. The tower will serve as global headquarters for the investment banking and asset management firm William Blair & Co.
“Citizens is very excited about the opportunity to work with the O’Donnell Investment Company and JLL and play a lead role in the financing of the 150 North Riverside project,” said Gary Magnuson, head of commercial real estate financing at RBS Citizens, the commercial banking arm of Citizens Financial Group. “The Chicago market is an important part of the growth strategy of the bank’s commercial real estate business and 150 North Riverside is a premier office project in Chicago.”
“This was a time-sensitive loan request and it was great to work with this team of RBS Citizens bankers,” said John O’Donnell, president of the O’Donnell Investment Company. “We selected them, along with the other bankers in the group, over several others, because of our confidence in these banks to complete the due diligence and documentation in a fair and timely manner.”
Bank of America and Helaba also participated in the commercial construction loan. An additional $200 million in equity was raised as part of a joint venture partnership.
Providence-based Citizens Financial Group announced in June that it will be changing the name of its commercial banking division from RBS Citizens to Citizens Commercial Banking later this year.
About Citizens Financial Group Inc.
Citizens Financial Group Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $130.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2014. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Consumer Banking helps its retail customers “bank better” with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank and Charter One branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in selective markets nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance.
Citizens operates via subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.citizensbank.com.
