L3 Capital Pays $64.5M for Palmolive Building's Retail Base

L3 Capital has closed on the retail condominium at the base of the Palmolive Building, paying $64.5 million for the Louis Vuitton-anchored retail base on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Cook County Clerk document 2621509014, recorded July 30, 2026, lists a declared price of $64,500,000 across 919 N Michigan Ave and four additional parcels, five total, tied to the 37-story Palmolive Building at Michigan Avenue and Walton Street. Newmark’s Keely Polczynski and Conor Lalor represented the buyer. The seller was represented by Joe Girardi of Mid-America Real Estate.

Why it matters

The recorded price matches Newmark’s reported deal price to the dollar, a rare case where a public record and a brokerage release line up exactly rather than diverging on timing or structure. For agents and retail operators, that alignment means the comp is unusually clean: a verified basis for underwriting other trophy retail condos on the Magnificent Mile.

The numbers

The condominium totals 51,795 square feet across four levels and is roughly 69% leased, anchored by Louis Vuitton, which has occupied the space for more than two decades and recently completed a renovation and expansion of its flagship store there, extending its lease in the process. The Cook County record spans five parcels, reflecting the retail condo’s unit and common-area splits within the larger tower, not a new subdivision. At $64,500,000, the deal values the condo at roughly $1,246 per square foot.

What’s next

The sale closes out a listing that first came to market under prior ownership in 2022 without a deal, a sign that pricing has now found a level buyers will clear at. It also lands weeks after a Loop office tower traded at a discount to its debt amid rising vacancy (see the Citadel Center discount sale to Kohan Retail), a split-market signal: institutional capital is still paying top-of-market for trophy Magnificent Mile retail even as Loop office assets reprice sharply lower. Agents working Mag Mile retail listings should expect that gap to widen comps between the two asset types rather than narrow them.