Tishman Speyer Buys 833,000-SF Office

As reported previously by GlobeSt.com, the Montvale-based Ivy, backed by Rockwood, bought the complex in 2003, paying TA Associates $147.5 million, or about $190 per sf. The parties in the latest sale declined to disclose the price, but industry sources tell GlobeSt.com that the asset traded for a number "north of $200 million."

"We have always been opportunity- and market-driven, and we concluded that now was the right time to capitalize on the unprecedented demand for portfolios of this size and caliber," Anthony DiTommaso, Jr., CEO of Ivy Equities, tells GlobeSt.com. "Our plans are to recycle this capital into additional acquisition opportunities we've already identified and are in the process of closing."

"These buildings are among the highest quality assets in the market and are fully leased, but we've already realized all of our financial objectives with the portfolio," says Ivy senior investment officer David Archibald. "We have completed our value repositioning strategy at the property, and have helped this underutilized portfolio realize its full potential."

For Tishman Speyer, the acquisition marks its return to the New Jersey marketplace--the company at one time had interests in Newark's Gateway complex. TS was itself expected to announce the acquisition later today, and while confirming the deal, a spokesman declined further comment pending that announcement. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale, but a spokesman did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.

Built in stages between 1976 and 2000 and originally a Prudential project, Metropark Office Center consists of 194 Wood Ave. South, a nine-story building that, at 480,000 sf, is the largest of the site's buildings. The others are the three-story 200 Wood Ave. South and the single-story 190 Wood Ave. South. The site also includes a three-story parking structure and two surface lots with a total capacity of 2,900 cars.

Prudential still has its stamp on the complex, leasing the entire property on a long-term basis. The financial giant occupies much of it, but has subleased portions of the property to Chase Manhattan Mortgage, Microsoft, IBM and Atlantic Container Lines.

The latest sale marks the third time Metropark Office Center has traded in the past nine years. Prior to Ivy's and Rockwood's acquisition of it in 2003 from TA Associates, the latter firm had acquired it from Prudential in 1998.