$320m loan helps Thor buy Ill. hotel.

Sonnenblick-Goldman Company, serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Thor Equities, has arranged a $320 million acquisition loan facility for the purchase, retail redevelopment, renovation and repositioning of the Palmer House Hotel and Shops in Chicago.

Thor is purchasing the landmark hotel from Hilton Hotels and Resorts.

"Many prospective investors saw the Palmer House Hotel and Shops as a hotel acquisition. Thor Equities identified the Palmer House as a 1.7 million square foot landmark opportunity and saw the potential to redevelop the retail and renovate and reposition this truly irreplaceable asset," said Mark Gordon, managing director and principal of Sonnenblick-Goldman Company.

"The viability of Thor's plan enabled us to structure a financing that will allow them to achieve their desired objectives in an economically feasible fashion,"

Thor has acquired and is developing a retail, office, and residential portfolio totaling approximately six million square feet and valued at more than $1.4 billion. The company has purchased properties in New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Puerto Rico, Cincinnati, South Florida, Orlando and Norfolk, Virginia. Thor and its affiliate are now in the process of acquiring properties in additional locations.