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Press Release
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Contact: Nick Derasmo (212.841.7505) |
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SONNENBLICK-GOLDMAN COMPANY ARRANGES SALE Of 1500 WALNUT STREET IN PHILADELPHIA |
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Thursday, November 11, 2004
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New York, NY
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Sonnenblick-Goldman Company has arranged the sale of 1500 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, on behalf of a joint venture between The Praedium Group and JADS Alliance Equities. Metro Development Company, based in Philadelphia, purchased the property for $24.5 million.
The Praedium Group and JADS Alliance Equities purchased 1500 Walnut Street - located on the southwest corner of Walnut Street and South 15th Street - in 2000 and made significant capital improvements during their period of ownership.
The property is tenanted by many of Philadelphia’s leading corporations, professional services firms, and non-profit organizations. The major ground floor retail space, with an entrance on Walnut Street, houses the Striped Bass restaurant, which has consistently been rated as one of Philadelphia’s best restaurants since its opening in 1994.
1500 Walnut Street contains a total of 326,000 square feet of rentable area, including 260,000 square feet of office space, 12,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, and a 54,000-square-foot, 160-space attached parking garage. The original 22-story tower was constructed in 1926; a second, 20-story tower and a four-story parking garage were added in 1965. The two towers are fully connected with seamless floor plates on the first through 20th floors, which contain approximately 13,000 rentable square feet each.
"1500 Walnut Street generated tremendous interest from investors, which demonstrates continued strong demand for well-located Center City Philadelphia office buildings," says Andrew Oliver, managing director and principal of Sonnenblick-Goldman Company.
Mark Ehlinger, director of Sonnenblick-Goldman, adds, "This sale is the culmination of another successful investment by The Praedium Group, in which it identified and purchased an under-performing asset, improved it in partnership with a locally-based operator, and then sold it on the basis of substantially higher and stronger cash flow."
The Praedium Group is a real estate investment firm that focuses on investments in under-performing and under-valued assets throughout North America, with $4 billion of total investments to date in 1,200 assets comprising 33 million square feet of commercial space and 28,000 multi-family units. Praedium was formed in 1991 with a leading international investment bank as its sole investor.
Building on the experience and exposure gained through this original investment program, Praedium has been a sponsor of commingled real estate private equity funds since 1994. The funds sponsored by Praedium have attracted investors that include public and corporate pension funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and endowments.
Praedium is investing its most recent $465 million real estate private equity fund, Praedium Fund V. This equity will be leveraged to acquire $1.5 billion in properties. The fund invests in mid-cap assets throughout the United States and Canada in the $10 to $70 million range, targeting multi-family, office, retail and industrial property types. CDP Capital-Real Estate Advisory, a Montreal-based real estate advisor and portfolio manager, is a major shareholder of The Praedium Group. CDP Capital-Real Estate Advisory is an affiliate of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, one of the world’s 10 largest real estate managers. For more information, please see www.praediumgroup.com.
JADS Alliance Equities is a Philadelphia-based real estate investment group. |
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Sonnenblick-Goldman, LLC is the industry’s leading independent real estate investment banking firm. Founded in 1893 to serve the financing needs of the real estate industry, Sonnenblick-Goldman, LLC provides a full range of financial services, including debt and equity placements, joint ventures, investment sales and advisory services. Headquartered in New York, Sonnenblick-Goldman maintains offices in San Francisco, Boston, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. Further information can be found at Sonnenblick-Goldman, LLC’s website at www.cushwake.com/sonngold.
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