MetLife Puts White Plains Plaza Back on Market

MetLife put the property on the market for sale in July 2002 only to abruptly take the 712,131-sf, twin tower complex at One North Broadway and 445 Hamilton Ave., off the market less than a year later.Executive vice president Andrew Merin and senior director Patrick Colwell of Cushman & Wakefield's Metropolitan Area Financial Services Group are charged with the marketing of the property and the procurement of a purchaser. The property is currently 73% leased and C&W officials are hopeful it will be leased up by year's end.

"This investment offering provides an unprecedented opportunity to acquire a class A project located in the core of the booming White Plains Central Business District," says Colwell. "We expect to attract multiple offers from regional and national investors."

Merin adds, "The property provides the potential investor with an opportunity to add value by leasing the remaining available space in the complex and capitalize on the $4.75 million of building upgrades completed this year."

One North Broadway contains 391,443 sf and 445 Hamilton Ave. totals 320,688 rentable sf. Both buildings have been substantially upgraded in recent years and are in the final stages of being leased, C&W officials report.

445 Hamilton Ave. was recently repositioned and boasts Lillian Vernon, which relocated its corporate headquarters from Rye to the property earlier this year, as one of its major tenants. One North Broadway's major tenants include MetLife and Nextel. The complex had been the corporate headquarters to Prodigy Communications, which leased a majority of the space at the complex until the late 1990s.

The White Plains Plaza property also includes a cafeteria, restaurants and a full-service fitness center. The One North Broadway building features a public plaza and retail tenants on the plaza level. The total amount of retail space includes 65,220 sf at One North Broadway and 13,124 sf in 445 Hamilton Ave., according to C&W.

White Plains Plaza is located next to Ivy Equities' the Shoppes at Main project, a redevelopment of a former Sears department store. Ivy Equities was said to be one of the interested suitors for the White Plains Plaza property two years ago before MetLife suddenly pulled it off the market. Other developers that brokers say were interested when the property was on the market in 2002-2003 were Mack-Cali Realty, RPW Group and Reckson Associates Realty Corp.

Ivy Equities is completing the redevelopment of the former Sears store at 275 Main St. and is said to be in talks with a number of retailers for the more than 270,000 sf at the property. Local real estate sources indicate that Wal-Mart is interested in possibly opening a location at the site.

White Plains Plaza is also located across the street from Cappelli Development's City Center at White Plains development and from Ginsburg Development's recently proposed "Pinnacle" high-rise condominium project.