Equity Commonwealth has unloaded two office assets in Austin — one a downtown high-rise, the other a Northwest Austin campus. The Chicago REIT sold the two properties, which total 616,000 square feet, for $64.5 million, Commercial Edge reported.
Bridgepoint Square
EQC sold Bridgepoint Square, a five-building, 440,000-square-foot campus about 10 miles northwest of downtown Austin, to Marbella Interests in a deal arranged by JLL, CE reported. The campus is on 27.7 acres at 6200 and 6300 Bridge Point Parkway, about a mile from Pennybacker Bridge, Lake Austin, and Texas State Highway 360. It has five four- or five-story buildings dating from the late 1980s with floorplates averaging 16,000 to 22,000 square feet. Amenities include a cafe, a gym, a volleyball court, and three parking structures.
Financial Industries Corporation sold the property to EQC in 1997, according to CommercialEdge. Since 2015, EQC has invested more than $13.5 million in capital improvements at the office campus. Prior to the trade, Building 5 was undergoing a renovation that included upgrades to the lobby and common areas.
As of September, Bridgepoint Square was 52.5 percent leased to tenants including New York Life Insurance Co. and Burns & McDonnell, among others.
Capitol Tower
Capitol Tower at 206 East Ninth Street is in Austin’s central business district and within walking distance of the Texas Capitol, several parks, quick-service restaurants, and museums. The 176,000-square-foot office property came online in 1984, and EQT purchased it from Pomeroy Holdings for $49 million in 2012, CE reported. The 20-story building has 25,805-square-foot floorplates and is LEED Silver and Energy Star certified.
An EQC financial report shows that Capital Tower was 69.4 percent leased as of Sept. 30. Tenants included Prosperity Bank, VMware Technology, BCW, among others.
