Grubb & Ellis broker $48.5M sale

Real Estate Weekly, March 29, 2000

100 Manhattanville Road, one of Westchester's most successful multi-tenant office properties, has been sold for $48.5 million, announced George Lambros III and Patrick R. Colwell, senior managing directors of the Grubb & Ellis Company Investment Services Group, the exclusive marketing agent for the property.

The purchaser, BfG/LaSalle Investment Advisors, acquired the property as a strategic, major market core investment.

The elegant four-story building, surrounded by 35 landscaped acres, is a corporate centerpiece for the county, 100 percent occupied by credit tenants such as Transamerica Leasing, Transamerica Life of NY, UUNet/MCI Worldcom, Independent Financial and Tri-Mark Securities. Located at the Manhattanville Road interchange of I-684, the 280,000 square-foot facility offers direct access to the tri-state area, and is less than 30 minutes from Manhattan.

Colwell explained that the property is in the heart of a robust business community, home to more than 20 Fortune 500 companies, among them IBM, MasterCard International, Texaco, International Paper and PepsiCo. "Triple A corporate space users and investors alike have long found Westchester a singularly compelling option, thanks to its locational advantages, highly skilled labor pool, high per capita income and enduring value," he noted. "Westchester remains a viable, cost-effective New York City alternative."

"This asset class is highly sought after and in short supply nationally," commented Lambros. He added that buildings within 100 Manhattanville Road's peer group, comprising the county's 10 top-quality properties, currently boast a vacancy rate of only 2.5 percent.

Team members included Lambros and Colwell, as well as John C. Hoffman, Matthew J. Schnurr and Norman K. Livingston. "A project of this caliber warranted a team approach, which enhanced the breadth and depth of our marketing capabilities," explained Hoffman, senior vice president/director of the Institutional Services Group.