Willis Tower to entice the firm to stay. Two years later, Sears began moving its own offices out of the Sears Tower. In 1994, Sears sold the building to Boston-based AEW Capital Management, with financing from MetLife. At the time, it was one-third vacant. By 1995, Sears had completely left the building, moving to a new office campus in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In 1997, Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corporation (the owner of the CN Tower at the time) purchased the building for $110 million, and assumption of $4 million in liabilities, and a $734 million mortgage. In 2003, Trizec surrendered the building to lender
Equitable Building (Chicago) Equitable Building (Chicago) 401 North Michigan is a 35-story skyscraper in the Streeterville area of Chicago, built in 1965 at 401 North Michigan Avenue, along the north bank of the Chicago River. Along with the Tribune Tower and Wrigley Building, it forms the southern gateway to Chicago's famous Magnificent Mile. The building was built atop the site of a cabin belonging to Chicago's first permanent resident, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable. In reference to du Sable, the large plaza adjacent to the building has been named Pioneer Court. 401 North Michigan occupies a site with several aspects of historical significance,