More Than 900,000 SF to Change Hands in Sale of Banyan REIT Portfolio

CHICAGO-Banyan Strategic Realty Trust, a REIT based downtown here, has agreed to sell its real estate portfolio for $226 million to privately-held Denholtz Associates, a deal that involves more than 900,000 sf of office and retail space in the Atlanta market. Shareholders can expect final distributions of about $6.20 per share by the end of 2001, just above Banyan’s most recent price of $5.94 on the Nasdaq.

Despite a 16% overall vacancy for the REIT’s holdings, Banyan Strategic Realty Trust vice president and general counsel Robert G. Higgins said the sale was not a result of underperforming assets. “It was a question of enhancing shareholder value,” Higgins told GlobeSt.com. Banyan had been exploring a mass sale of its holdings since early 2000, he added, and an affiliate of Chicago-based Cohen Financial had been marketing the portfolio since July.