GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: White Plains Assets Move for Record $42M

WHITE PLAINS-In what is being dubbed a record sale for class A office in Westchester County–even along the so-called Platinum Mile–Two and Four Gannett Dr. have changed owners in a $42-million deal. The Garden City-based Treeline Cos. sold its 225,000 sf of assets for roughly $200 per foot.

Sources say that the 100%-occupied assets–built in 1982–had more than 20 bidders swarming around the offer, but the race was ultimately decided in favor of “European money,” named Heritage Co. The deal is expected to close shortly.

The flow of European capital into Westchester is no surprise, according to one observer. “Everybody’s chasing deals in New York City, and they can’t find them,” he says.Eastdil managing director Douglas Harmon is listed as the exclusive broker on the deal but did not return phone calls by deadline. Frances Shore, president of Treeline, was also unavailable for comment.

Little wonder Harmon was unavailable. He’s been active not only in Westchester office transactions but in Manhattan residential lately with the $195-million sale of 88 Greenwich St. The 458-unit asset, built in the 1930s, went to the Thor Equities portfolio. The seller was a JV formed by Worldwide Holdings and Lubert-Adler, the Philadelphia-based private equity firm. Coincidentally, Harmon also engineered the sale of it’s neighbor, 71 Broadway, for $100 million, late last year.

The Treeline Cos. owns and manages more than 1.5 million sf of commercial real estate throughout the New York Metropolitan area. The firm was founded in 1985.