155 North Wacker Drive Development Announces New Tenant

Mercer (US) Inc. to Occupy 134,000 RSF. This addition brings the development to 52% preleased.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 20, 2008 -- The John Buck Company is pleased to announce that two units of the global professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) will occupy floors 11 through 16 of the 46-story office development at 155 North Wacker Drive. With the addition of the MMC units - the human resources consulting firm Mercer (US) Inc. and the risk and reinsurance specialist Guy Carpenter - the preleasing percentage at the Class A+ building is up to 52%. Other tenants include law firm Skadden Arps, financial services firm Bridge Finance Group, LLC, and the American
Hospital Association.

Mercer is a leading global provider of consulting, outsourcing and investment services and has 18,000 employees based in more than 40 countries. Guy Carpenter creates and executes reinsurance solutions and makes available capital market solutions for clients worldwide through 2,600 professionals across the globe. Both firms cited the efficient floor plate, advanced building systems and commitment to the environment through LEED certification as, in part, the reasons behind their move.

Mercer and Guy Carpenter were advised by US Equities Realty's Nancy Pacher (President and COO) and Geoff Euston (Senior Vice President) and Staubach Midwest LLC's Steve Stratton (Regional President) and Jock Howland (Managing Principal). Drew Nieman (Principal) and Bill Truszkowski (Vice President) of The John Buck Company represented the Development.

155 North Wacker Drive is designed by Goettsch Partners, bringing together the same award-winning design and development team from the recently completed 111 South Wacker and UBS Tower at One North Wacker projects. 155 North Wacker is a contemporary, technology-enabled A+ office building that will have an exterior arcade, a grand two-story lobby clad in marble, a two-level subterranean parking garage for tenants only and on-site, state-of-the-art conference and fitness centers. The project has been pre-certified LEED®-CS Silver ("Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design") by the U.S. Green Building Council.

155 North Wacker is owned by a joint-venture of the JBC Funds, Morgan Stanley's Prime Property Fund and Brijus Properties. Construction Financing is being provided by a bank syndicate led by Bank of America, LaSalle Bank and Helaba.

About The John Buck Company
Founded in 1981, JBC is a privately owned, vertically integrated, full-service international real estate firm headquartered in Chicago with over 150 employees. JBC has developed, redeveloped and/or acquired over 33 million square feet of office, retail, hotel and residential projects and generated almost $10 billion in cumulative transaction volume. The JBC Opportunity Funds are real estate equity funds, which total more than $500 million, and focus on opportunistic acquisitions and development of high quality properties in major urban markets. Since their inception in 2000, investments have been made in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York and Washington DC. For additional information, please visit www.tjbc.com.

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