Tysons Corner Gannett HQ Sold for $270M to London Buyer

London-based Tamares Group, partnered with the Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company of Finland, has closed on the purchase of Gannett's headquarters complex in Tysons Corner, VA for $270 million. The property was sold by TEGNA, a broadcast and digital media company that spun off from Gannett Co., parent company of USA Today, over the summer. Under terms of the deal, Gannett will remain in the building under a 12-year contract, while TEGNA secured an 18-month deal for 166,000 square feet of space, or 20% of the building. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed, but CBRE, who brokered the transaction, has also been tapped to provide leasing services while Tamares repositions the property from single to multi-tenant use.

"Tamares has been active in Washington, D.C, area real estate for over 30 years and is proud to add 7950 Jones Branch Drive to our portfolio," said Poju Zabludowicz, Chairman of Tamares. "This state-of-the-art-facility is one of the keystone properties in Northern Virginia and greater Washington, D.C. We look forward to enhancing the property and applying our local experience to attract new tenants to make 7950 Jones Branch Drive some of the most sought after first-class commercial office space in the area. And we are delighted to expand our cooperation with Ilmarinen."

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and project managed by Hines, 7950 Jones Branch Drive in Tysons Corner was completed in 2001 and includes a nine-story, 300,000-square-foot North Tower and the adjacent 11-story, 530,000-square-foot South Tower. The property also offers tenants a 20,000 square foot fitness center, a 1-mile jogging track, tennis courts, and basketball courts.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

SL Green Supertower Gets City Approval with Grand Central Improvements

The New York City Council approved a change to zoning law that will allow for the construction of SL Green Realty's One Vanderbilt skyscraper, with an unusual tradeoff: SL Green's added commitment to make upgrades to Grand Central Terminal that will allow for more rush-hour trains on the subway's busiest lines. The approach has been viewed by some proponents as a model for how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can pay for some projects as it grapples with a $14 billion shortfall in the agency's $32 billion proposed capital plan, according to a New York Times report.

The council members unanimously approved the zoning change to allow the 65-story tower to rise alongside the historic landmark, with SL Green investing about $220 million in critical improvements to Grand Central, including building new subway entrances, a pedestrian plaza at street level, and a public hall in the building's lobby. "This is the first time we've seen vast private investment to improve mass-transit access," said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban planning at New York University.

"This is the bottleneck to the subway line," Edith Hsu-Chen, director of the Manhattan office of the city's department of planning, told city council members during a hearing last month. "Improvements made to this station would affect the entire line and commuters in the whole city." SL Green will strip the columns down to the bare bones — slimming them down by about a foot each — and narrow the stairwell to create about two and a half feet of extra space on the platform. "At rush hour, people congregate around these columns. People can't get off the train," said Robert Schiffer, managing director at SL Green. "The idea is to diffuse people."

One Vanderbilt, bounded by Vanderbilt Avenue and Madison Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd Streets, will be 1,501 feet tall and contain 1.6 million square feet of Class A commercial space. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), One Vanderbilt's architecture and building materials pay homage to the landmarked Terminal and the surrounding East Midtown business district. Building features include open floor plans, efficient use of space, and the highest level of sustainable design in New York City. TD Bank has already signed to anchor approximately 200,000 square feet of space in One Vanderbilt, including a flagship retail store on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. One Vanderbilt is projected to create 5,200 construction jobs and 190 permanent union jobs.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Wacker Drive Trophy Tower for Sale

311 South Wacker Drive in Chicago, the tallest building in the world known only by its street address, is being offered for sale at a yet-to-be-disclosed price according to an nreionline.com article. The owners, a venture comprised of affiliates of Fremont Realty Capital, Mark Karasick and Shorenstein Properties, will be exclusively advised in the sale of the 65-story office building by CB Richard Ellis' Chicago Capital Markets Group.

Originally constructed in 1990, 311 South Wacker was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates with 1.3 million square feet of rentable office and retail space. 311 South Wacker is the winner of Chicago's First BOMA International TOBY Award for the office building of the year in the over one million square feet category. The building is reportedly 91% leased to long-term tenants.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.