NEW YORK CITY — Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) has sold The Center Building, a 470,000-square-foot office building located in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, for $173 million. The eight-story building, which includes ground-floor retail space, was originally constructed in 1914 as an assembly plant and service center for Ford’s Model T vehicle. Today, the building is home to five city agencies, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Locally based development and investment firm 60 Guilders purchased the asset for an undisclosed price. Eastdil Secured provided financial advisory services to Vornado.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Highwoods Properties Inc. plans to purchase 650 South Tryon at Legacy Union, an 18-story office tower in Uptown Charlotte that is anchored by Big 4 accounting firm Deloitte. The Raleigh-based REIT plans to acquire the 367,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified tower for $203 million, which includes $3.9 million of capital expenditures to boost occupancy of the tower. The property was 78 percent leased at the time of the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter. The seller was not disclosed but the developer, Lincoln Harris, delivered the property in late 2020. The tower represented Phase II of the Legacy Union mixed-use campus and is connected to the 33-story Bank of America Tower, which Highwoods also owns. Additionally, Highwoods has agreed to acquire a development site in Charlotte’s South End district for $27 million. The parcel at 1426 S. Tryon St. is tentatively planned for a mixed-use property comprising 300,000 square feet of office space and 250 apartments. The seller of the site was also not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Northwood Investors has completed the renovation of 1180 Avenue of the Americas, a 398,937-square-foot office building in Midtown Manhattan. The project involved renovating the building’s main entrance, lobby and façade and revamping the amenity center, which now houses a 3,500-square-foot terrace and two conference rooms and lounges. Northwood also upgraded the elevator and mechanical systems and added speculative office suites. Gensler designed the capital improvement program. Cushman & Wakefield leases the building.
MIAMI — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $56.7 million sale of a pair of office buildings in downtown Miami totaling more than 300,000 square feet. A partnership between Triple Double Real Estate and Stonerock Capital Partners purchased the portfolio from an undisclosed seller. Mike Davis, Dominic Montazemi, Miguel Alcivar, Adam Spies, Rick Brugge and Rick Colon of Cushman & Wakefield represented both parties in the transaction. The properties include a 12-story building at 200 S.E. 1st St. and a 26-story tower at 44 W. Flagler St. The buildings are about a quarter-mile from one another and were a combined 59 percent leased at the time of sale, giving value-add opportunities to the new owners.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Boeing (NYSE: BA) has chosen Arlington as the site for its new global headquarters due to the city’s proximity to Washington, D.C., and strong client and talent base in the region. The aerospace and defense giant is moving its headquarters from Chicago, where the firm plans to maintain a significant office presence. In addition to the corporate relocation, Boeing plans to develop a research and tech hub in Arlington to support and train Boeing employees in the areas of cyber security, autonomous operations, quantum sciences and software and systems engineering. Details about the campus and the construction timeline were not disclosed. Boeing’s stock price closed on Thursday, May 5 at $150.47 per share, down from $229.81 a year ago, a 34.5 percent decline.
IRVING, TEXAS — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a trio of office leases totaling roughly 128,000 square feet at VariSpace Las Colinas, a 312,000-square-foot building in Irving. Aviation engineering firm CAE signed a lease for 16,000 square feet; Caris Life Sciences inked a deal for 37,000 square feet; and an undisclosed education organization committed to 75,000 square feet. Cushman & Wakefield’s Johnny Johnson and Chris Taylor represented the landlord, Vari, a provider of office furniture and other workplace solutions, in the lease negotiations. Jeff Eiting of CBRE represented CAE, and Greg Burns of ESRP represented Caris Life Sciences.
DALLAS — Austin-based investment firm Long View Equity has acquired Preston Grove, a 111,286-square-foot office park in Dallas. The three-building complex is situated on a seven-acre site on the city’s north side. Steve Simon, Steve Rowland and Chris Lipscomb of Transwestern represented the seller, Reserve Capital Partners, in the transaction. Additional terms of sale were not disclosed.
STAMFORD, CONN. — CBRE has brokered the $72 million sale of 400 Atlantic Street, a 508,043-square-foot office building in the downtown area of Stamford, about 40 miles outside of New York City. At the time of sale, 400 Atlantic Street was 30 percent leased. Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley, Jeremy Neuer and Travis Langer of CBRE, in collaboration with Meredith LaPier of Advisory and Transaction Services, represented the seller, an affiliate of Charter Communications Inc., in the transaction. Charter Communications also previously used the 14-story building as its global headquarters but has since relocated to an 875,000-square-foot campus at 400 Washington Blvd. CBRE also procured the buyer, a partnership between George Comfort & Sons and AVG Partners, which plans to implement a value-add program.
LISLE, ILL. — NAI Hiffman has negotiated five new leases totaling nearly 30,000 square feet at 2200 Cabot Drive, an office building in the Corporate Lakes office park in Lisle, a western suburb of Chicago. Patrick Kiefer and Jim Adler of NAI Hiffman represented ownership, RE Development Solutions. The tenants included CAGE Civil Engineering, Capitas Financial Midwest, NSA Media, TD Synnex and Mathieson, Moyski, Austin & Co. LLP. Brokers representing the tenants included Patrick Elwood of CBRE, William Main of CBIZ Gibraltar, Diana Riekse of CBRE, Kevin Rogers of JLL and Scott Fedyski and Jay Scholten of Capital Real Estate Partners. Built in 1990 and previously renovated in 2002, 2200 Cabot rises five stories and spans 132,000 rentable square feet. RE Development Solutions has been renovating the property since its acquisition in November 2019. Approximately 70,000 square feet of the building remains available for lease.
NEW YORK CITY — Cadre, a technology-driven real estate investment platform, has signed a 17,000-square-foot office lease at 315 Park Avenue South in Midtown Manhattan. Columbia Property Trust owns the 20-story, 331,000-square-foot building, which is now 97 percent leased. Steven Rotter and Justin Haber of JLL represented Cadre in the lease negotiations. Newmark represented building ownership.