Igor Gabal is betting that servers can succeed where office tenants have stumbled. The Chicago investor has lined up Strategic Value Partners to help convert part of his troubled Loop building at 300 West Adams into a data center, targeting the middle floors of the 12-story property after years of ownership disputes and deferred maintenance. Gabal says the fresh capital should allow him to stabilize the building for the long haul while repositioning some floors for higher-value uses.
Strategic investor steps in
As reported by The Real Deal, Strategic Value Partners has signed on to partner with Gabal on the 300 West Adams conversion. Public records tied to the transaction show a deed of roughly $12.5 million for the property. Gabal told the outlet the plan is to repurpose the 2nd through 6th floors for data center use while keeping the ground-floor retail intact. He said construction on the conversion is slated to start in 2026.
Why this building pencils out
The 300 West Adams building is a 12-story structure totaling about 240,000 square feet, according to Skyscraper Center. The property traded at a steep discount late in 2023, at roughly $4 million, or about $17 per square foot, based on public sale records reported by Traded. The combination of relatively low basis, existing scale and downtown fiber access makes the mid-level floors a plausible candidate for a compact urban data hall.
Legal clouds, complicated ownership
The project follows a run of lawsuits and partner disputes that have dragged on previous redevelopment efforts. As detailed by The Real Deal, investors John Thomas and Chris Hansen challenged the sale and later had their claims dismissed, and co-owner Ruben Espinoza subsequently sued, alleging mishandling of an insurance payout. Gabal says he has since settled or narrowed those conflicts while moving to buy out partners. The building also sits on a long-term ground lease that carries a seven-figure annual cost, a line item that will factor heavily into the conversion math.
How it fits into the Loop’s new playbook
The 300 West Adams deal lands as more downtown owners look to swap traditional office space for power-hungry digital infrastructure. The recent flip of 400 South LaSalle, bought in mid-2024 for about $12 million and sold a year later to a data center developer for roughly $40 million, underscored the potential upside of conversions, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Market trackers from Cushman & Wakefield point to rising interest in Chicago-area data capacity among operators and investment funds.
Before any server racks arrive, Gabal and his partners still have to navigate permitting, hefty power upgrades and coordination with existing tenants. For other Loop landlords watching from the sidelines, what happens at 300 West Adams will serve as a real-time test of whether urban office-to-data conversions can deliver steady value in a choppy market.
