The owners of the sprawling Merrill Lynch campus in Hopewell have sold a second quarter of the complex to a group of real estate investors. The transaction follows a similar sale of a portion of the property last month — both at a premium over what it was sold for in December.
The buildings, located at 1100, 1150, and 1200 Merrill Lynch Drive, total 380,000 square feet and went for $90.8 million, or $239 per square foot. The entire complex went for about $204 per square foot last year.
The sellers, a partnership consisting of New York-based Fortress Investment Group, Sansome Pacific Properties, Normandy Real Estate Partners, and Skyline Pacific Properties, still own half the complex. The buyer was Virginia-based American Real Estate Partners.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer, and Grace Braverman represented the sellers in the transaction. Separately, Cushman & Wakefield’s finance team of Mark Ehlinger and John Alascio arranged the acquisition financing on behalf of American Real Estate Partners.
Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith is leasing all three buildings.
The buildings are part of Merrill Lynch’s 12-building, 1.8 million-square-foot Hopewell campus, designed and purpose-built by that firm in 2001 and housing the firm’s global wealth and investment management divisions. Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch in 2008 and instituted a national program of long-term sale leasebacks, resulting in the subsequent $365 million sale of the entire campus to the four partners in 2012.
The complex includes a 20,000-square-foot data center and raised flooring throughout. The campus includes multiple cafeterias, a fitness center, and multiple parking decks.
