Investors Purchase Former Time Equities Office Property

By the Editors of Commercial Property Executive

November 12, 2012

City Center Square, one of the largest office buildings in downtown Kansas City, has been acquired by an investment group led by three principals,

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

City Center Square, one of the largest office buildings in downtown Kansas City, has been acquired by an investment group led by three principals, The Kansas City Business Journal reports. The 30-story office building was under contract for around a month, but a sale price was not disclosed.

Located at 1100 Main Street, the 650,000-square-foot building was bought by Alex Sassoon, a partner in Seattle-based McKnight Realty Partners; Ellie Schwartz, CEO of New York-based The Nightingale Group; and David Werner, a Brooklyn-based real estate investor. The property had been owned by New York-based Time Equities Inc., and the note on the building had transferred to a special servicer.

The listing agents for City Center Square, which is currently 49 percent leased, were Rob Jones and Bryan Johnson of Colliers International. The leasing duties at City Center Square will be handled by Brian Bacon, vice president at CBRE Inc. in Kansas City and Brent Roberts, CBRE first vice president.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LP, City Center Square was built in 1977 in the heart of downtown Kansas City. City Center Square is adjacent to the Sprint Arena and the new Kansas City Live entertainment district. The building is surrounded by parking and offers easy access to Interstate 70, Interstate 35 and Highway 169. The high-rise features various amenities including valet parking, a full-service fitness center, 24-hour security and on-site building maintenance and management.

Overall the Kansas City office market is slowly recovering, according to a recent report released by Cassidy Turley. Although the number of companies expanding, and the sizes of their spaces are significant, the net result is expected to lower vacancy by just around half a point. Cassidy Turley expects it will take Kansas City’s office market some time to return to a healthy vacancy in the low teens.