CHICAGO—CME Group Inc. is looking to sell most of the Chicago Board of Trade building, an iconic structure that has long been a symbol of the grain trade.
CME plans to lease back the floor space and continue to operate those trading pits, yet veteran traders saw the announcement as another sign of the growing move to electronic trading.
The sale of the north and south towers of the 80-year-old Art Deco building would include some of the trading-floor space where brokers bark out orders for corn and wheat futures. CME will retain ownership of the building’s east tower, home to its financial-futures markets.
Local realtors estimate that the two towers could fetch $150 a square foot, or about $210 million.
