Discovery Partners Institute, the University of Illinois-backed research and workforce arm, is under contract to buy the mostly empty 16-story office tower at 250 S. Wacker Drive in the Loop, a once-busy address that has gone unusually quiet. If the sale closes, the institute would take over a building that has sat largely vacant since a corporate downsizing left whole sections of the tower empty.
People familiar with the deal say DPI has a contract to acquire the 1950s-era property from UBS for roughly $25 million, a sharp markdown from what the tower once fetched. According to CoStar, DPI is the buyer and UBS is the seller, and the transaction fits into a broader trend of older office buildings changing hands at significantly reduced prices.
How the Wacker tower went quiet
Much of the building emptied out after Molson Coors shrank its footprint and shifted a large portion of its Chicago operations to the new BMO Tower at 320 S. Canal in 2023. The Chicago Sun-Times reported at the time that the brewer cut back on leased square footage, leaving several floors open and far tougher to relet in an already soft office market.
DPI’s downtown footprint and leadership
DPI currently keeps its downtown offices at 200 S. Wacker Drive while it weighs longer-term space plans, according to its official materials. The Discovery Partners Institute lists its Chicago headquarters at that address, and the University of Illinois recently named Gene Robinson as DPI's new executive director and CEO, a leadership change tied to the institute's refocused research mission.
A shift toward quantum and applied research
The potential purchase comes as state and university leaders push fresh investments into quantum and advanced computing on Chicago's South Side, including the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park planned for the former U.S. Steel South Works site. Companies such as Quantum Machines have already agreed to locate labs at that park, according to a park announcement and a press release describing tenant commitments and on-ramp facilities, reported by PR Newswire.
What the deal means for downtown office demand
Industry watchers say institutional buyers, including universities, research outfits and public partners, are increasingly stepping into a downtown office market where aging towers are selling for a fraction of their former values. CoStar notes the building last sold for about $90 million in 2011, a comparison that highlights just how far some legacy Loop properties have fallen.
If it goes through, the deal would give DPI a rare ownership stake in central Chicago real estate and align with a broader strategy to tie applied research and workforce programs to a visible physical presence downtown. Officials have not announced a closing date, and the transaction still depends on customary approvals, so for now the nearly empty tower remains in a holding pattern above the river.
