Turnbridge Equities Pays $37M for Durham Office Asset

Tower at Mutual Plaza. Aerial courtesy of Turnbridge Equities

Turnbridge Equities has completed the $37.2 million acquisition of Tower at Mutual Plaza, a 180,000-square-foot office property in Durham, N.C. The company funded the purchase with a one-year, $21 million loan from Knighthead Funding, according to Yardi Matrix data.

The new owner purchased the asset through a foreclosure action after it acquired a subordinate interest in a $31 million loan that encumbered the property. In December 2017, Knighthead Funding provided that note to Greenfire Development, Yardi Matrix shows. In December 2019, Greenfire defaulted on the mortgage, which had an outstanding balance of $37.2 million at the time of foreclosure.

Located on 3 acres at 411 W.  Chapel Hill St., the 15-story building was completed in 1965. The seller executed an $11 million capital improvement plan on the high-rise in 2015, which included remodeling the property’s common areas and lobby and renovating the exterior courtyard and facade.

The buyer will take advantage of the renovation in the leasing of the asset’s remaining vacancy. The current tenant mix includes the building’s namesake, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., as well as Duke Health, Duke University, the Department of Veteran Affairs and architecture firm Perkins & Will.

In April, Turnbridge Equities paid $34.7 million for The Creamery, an 82,000-square-foot mixed-use asset in downtown Raleigh, N.C. The company plans to invest $1 million in renovating the building. Northpond Partners sold the property.