Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (Piedmont) has completed the sale of 1901 Market Street, a 45-storey Class-A office tower in Philadelphia for approximately $360 million, or $450 per square foot.
1901 Market Street is approximately 800,000 square foot office building situated on approximately three-quarters of an acre in the heart of downtown Philadelphia.
Piedmont has owned the building since 2003 during which time it has been exclusively leased to the buyer, Independence Blue Cross.
“The sale of 1901 Market Street concludes a successful recycling story for Piedmont, allowing us to dispose of a long-term, 100%-leased asset in a non-strategic market where we believe the value potential during our ownership has been realized and to fully reinvest the proceeds accretively into our recent purchase of Dallas Galleria Office Towers. The transaction was structured as a 1031 exchange for tax purposes; therefore, no special distribution will be required despite the nine-digit gain on the sale of 1901 Market. Overall, this transaction represents a good strategic move for the purchaser and a phenomenal outcome for our stockholders,” said C. Brent Smith, Piedmont’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
