Blackstone Takes $89M Financing for Big Nashville Buy

Fifth Third Center

Nuveen Real Estate has provided an $89.4 million loan to The Blackstone Group to finance its December acquisition of Fifth Third Center, a 490,281-square-foot office high-rise in downtown Nashville, Tenn., according to public records. The $144.8 million deal closed less than two years after seller Goldman Sachs Asset Management paid $117.6 million to Lincoln Property Co. for the tower, per data from Yardi Matrix.

Located at 424 Church St., the property is three blocks from the UBS Tower, which changed hands for $135 million in March. Fifth Third Center is in the heart of the central business district, within half a mile of the State Capitol, the Music City Center and a wide range of hotels. Constructed in 1986, the 31-story Fifth Third Center is home to a diverse mix of tenants, from building namesake Fifth Third Bank to Regus and CoStar Group. The property has approximately 4,000 square feet of street-level retail space, a fitness center, an outdoor plaza and recently renovated common areas.

Blackstone’s acquisition is the metro’s largest since late 2013, when Highwoods Properties acquired The Pinnacle at Symphony Place for $152.8 million from Canyon Partners Real Estate. Nashville continues to attract significant investment—2019 marked two consecutive years this cycle exceeding $850 million in office transactions, according to Yardi Matrix.