Ann Arbor's landmark 777 Building re-listed for sale
The 777 Building - officially known as Eisenhower Plaza - has a distinctive presence at the I-94/State Street entrance to the city.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Eisenhower Plaza - more commonly known as the 777 Building - recently was re-listed for sale after an effort to find a buyer in 2008 faded along with the economy.
But the building’s owners say conditions have improved to the point where a national marketing effort may succeed in finding a buyer for the 10-story building at the corner of South State and Eisenhower, along with a 3-story, 108,900-square-foot building on the east side of the high-rise.
“We think it’s a good time to sell,” said Bill Harvey, senior vice president in the Southfield office of Texas-based Transwestern. “… (The owners) believe the capital markets are better and financing is available.
Harvey said the marketing is a dual effort between Transwestern and Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment banking company based in New York.
The pair is not publicizing an asking price.
Transwestern bought the 10-story building in 2004 for $21.9 million. It made several improvements to the structure and grounds, and also built the three-story building, leasing it to Proquest.
The property was assessed at $26.6 million in 2010, a drop of $2.6 million from the previous year. In 2009, Transwestern was the fifth largest taxpayer in the city, behind Pfizer, Briarwood, Detroit Edison and Arborland.
The property was 60 percent leased in 2004, and today it’s close to 90 percent, Harvey said. That represents the entire second floor, which is available.
Recent deals in the building included an additional floor leased to Thomson Reuters and some lease renewals. The overall vacancy rate in the Ann Arbor market was just under 18 percent at year-end, according to a survey by Swisher Commercial.
The 777 Building listing doesn’t represent a distressed sale, Harvey said.
However, he said, “it’s a natural time to sell the property. There’s very little value left to add … It’s leased, renovated, good to go.”
Transwestern is one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the U.S. - and the size and profile of the 777 building means that it should attract a national audience of potential buyers.
“It’s a big enough of a project that it will attract attention nationwide,” Harvey said.
Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.
Comments
Lokalisierung
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 1:16 p.m.
"what all you ann arborites taxes will be like in 20 or so yrs" It will be high as heck and I'll still be pleading to pass an income tax and everyone will still be telling me what a dumb idea it is becasue they still won't understand it.
Adam Jaskiewicz
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 1:08 p.m.
Bob, I believe Medstat was absorbed into Thompson Healthcare, which is now part of Thompson Reuters.
scooter dog
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 12:50 p.m.
Just think what all you ann arborites taxes will be like in 20 or so yrs when the u of m owns 75% of the property in a2 and pays zero property taxes.I hope they buy it, the 777 building then they can rent it out and not have to pay any taxes on it.
Bob
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 11:49 a.m.
Does anyone know if Medstat is still in this building? I worked there years ago, but drive by almost everyday and was just curious to know if any of the business from back then still survive in this building, like the deli on the ground floor?
Thick Candy Shell
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 11:07 a.m.
The City could have bought this back in the 70's and didn't because they didn't want to move City Hall out of Down Town. If they had, they could have kept the courts with the rest of the City, most likely eliminated the need for the new building on Stone School and still been able to rent out office space to Lawyers who could be right next to the courts. It was available for dirt cheap when Bechtel moved out.
belboz
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 10:21 a.m.
Well, this just reinforces the total waste of money Ann Arbor is spending on the new court house. For $47 million, Ann Arbor is building a 103,000sf building. About $400 per square foot in cost. If the 777 building sells for twice its equalized value - say $55 million - this 400,000sf property will cost $138 per square foot. Nice cost management City. For the extra $10 million - we could have sold the downtown project for that wonderful hotel project the city so "desperately" needs, and that library lot could remain open space. Subract he money made from selling the donwntown building, and perhaps it would have been an even trade. A bit of second guessing - sure. And we'll have to see what the eventual sale price is. But, the huge cost difference (even assuming it sells for 3 times equalized value) just reinforces that our city management is way out of touch with reality. As in, our construction costs don't justify a new building. And, the supply of existing building don't justify a new building. Fire for Cause!!!
trespass
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 10:07 a.m.
It would seem foolish for the UM to buy this building now. They have tons of unused space in the former Pfizer campus. It doesn't sound like this will go at a firesale price, so I don't see why the UM would buy this building at the same time they raise the tuition for students. That would be the kind of arrogance that might touch off the type of protests that have been happening at California campuses.
ChrisW
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 8:22 a.m.
Shouldn't take UM more than a week or two to snatch this building up.