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National  + Office  | 
Commercial real estate owners have begun to accept fire-sale prices for troubled office buildings, the Wall Street Journal reported

Fire-Sale Pricing Comes to Office Investment Sales 

Commercial real estate owners are starting to unload troubled office buildings at fire-sale prices, in what the Wall Street Journal reported as a sign that the office market slump is moving into a new phase where more landlords are ready to capitulate.  

In recent weeks, Blackstone sold the Griffin Towers office complex in Santa Ana for $82 million, or about 36% less than it paid in 2014, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. Principal Financial Group sold a Parsippany, NJ office building for $14.3 million, down from the $52 million it paid in 2008.  

The tower at 350 California in San Francisco, valued at $300 million in 2019, is expected to trade at about $60 million, or roughly 80% below that previous valuation. 

Listings of office buildings for sale are also rising. “Office inventory is growing,” Steven Jacobs, president of online auction platform Ten-X, told the WSJ. “Investors want out.” 

Pictured: Griffin Towers.

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Ten-X's Jacobs

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

  • ◦Sale/Acquisition
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