DURHAM, N.C. — IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has sold a portion of the IBM 500 Campus in Durham, a city near Raleigh. The Armonk, New York-based computer hardware giant sold the property in a sale-leaseback deal. The price was not disclosed, but the Triad Business Journal reports it traded for $66 million.
Located at 4205 S. Miami Blvd., the four-building property spans 774,000 square feet and is 100 percent leased to IBM. No plans were announced, but multiple media outlets report that the property is suited for future mixed-use redevelopment opportunities.
The IBM 500 Campus sits on 146 acres next to Research Triangle Park (RTP), the largest research park in the United States. RTP is a district in the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area that houses 375 private companies in technology and life sciences sectors who can draw talent from three established research universities: Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. IBM has had a presence in the RTP since the mid-1960s.
Hines Global Income Trust Inc., a REIT managed by Houston-based Hines, purchased the IBM 500 facilities and leased them back to IBM. In addition to this acquisition, the firm is a partner developer on Fenton, a 92-acre mixed-use project in nearby Cary. Hines is also a developer on the American Tobacco redevelopment in downtown Durham and owner of Waverly Place, a Whole Foods-anchored shopping center in Cary.
Paul Zarian, managing director at Hines, says the company is enthusiastic about expanding its footprint in the Raleigh-Durham area.
“Long-term, we are attracted to the site’s future redevelopment optionality, specifically given its strategic location in the heart of a high-demand submarket for life sciences, residential and industrial uses,” says Zarian.
IBM’s stock price closed on Monday, Dec. 18 at $162.74 per share, up from $138.87 a year ago, a 17.2 percent climb.
— John Nelson