Microsoft Bing HQ Changes Hands for $310M

By Natalie Dolce

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Microsoft HQ

BELLEVUE, WA-Cole Real Estate Investments has acquired City Center Plaza for $310 million from Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners. The 583,179-square-foot, class-A tower here is 96% leased through 2024 to Microsoft’s Bing division.

The all-cash acquisition is considered one of the largest real estate transactions in the US  in 2010, according to a prepared statement. And according to Tom Roberts, head of real estate for Cole, “It is a rare opportunity for a property such as this to become available.”

Cole expects the average capitalization rate for this property over Microsoft’s remaining initial lease term to be approximately 7.7%. Additionally, the company is currently in discussions with a lender for a possible $156-million loan secured by the property with a fixed interest rate of 3.99% per annum and an anticipated maturity date of July 2015. Cole could not divulge the name of the lender to GlobeSt.com at this point because they are still in negotiations. “Due to the favorable terms of the potential loan, Cole expects it to have a positive impact on the property’s investment return,” says Roberts.

Roberts points out that this acquisition “exactly fits Cole’s core property investment parameters: high quality real estate, occupied by a single tenant with exceptional credit under a long-term net lease, providing a stable stream of income.”

The Eastdil Secured brokers representing the seller in the transaction were Jeffrey Weber, senior managing director; Stephen Van Dusen, managing director and Jason Flynn, director. Representing Cole was Kim Kundrak, chief acquisitions officer, and Boyd Messmann, vice president of acquisitions.

Constructed in 2008, the office tower, home to Microsoft’s Bing division, is LEED Gold certified. Microsoft has made a significant investment above the landlord’s tenant improvement allowance of $43 million to upgrade the facility “to meet the needs of a high-technology, mission critical, ‘headquarters quality’ asset,” according to a prepared statement.

City Center Plaza’s location at the entrance to the Bellevue central business district offers exceptional access to freeways and is adjacent to the Bellevue Transit Center, the city’s main public transportation hub. Bellevue has benefited from tremendous tenant demand due to its high quality office inventory, excellent retail base, and immediate proximity to Puget Sound’s preferred residential neighborhoods. Market rents in the Bellevue CBD have also held much firmer than other major West Coast markets, pointing to the resiliency and strong demand generators of this downtown location for a quality asset, according to the statement.

Year-to-date, Cole has acquired more than $1 billion of high-quality commercial real estate, including retail, office and industrial properties across the US. GlobeSt.com could not reach Beacon Capital Partners by deadline for comment.

Categories: West, Office, Acquisitions/Dispositions, Seattle