National market report

Washington, D.C.

Vornado Realty Trust last month announced the sale of the Washington Office Center, a 420,125-square-foot office building, the Washington Business Journal reported. The property, located at 409 Third Street in Southwest Washington, D.C., sold for $186 million, or roughly $450 per square foot. The building was sold as part of a portfolio that also includes the Washington Design Center at 300 D Street. Vornado, which said it expects to post a net gain of $120 million on the sales, did not disclose the identity of the buyer. Vornado acquired both properties in 1998 as part of a $625 million, 5.3 million-square-foot portfolio sale. The REIT said it is also selling other assets that were part of that acquisition, including the Boston Design Center, the L.A. Mart and the Canadian Trade Shows. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, the Southwest Washington office market had a vacancy rate of 12.6 percent, or roughly 1,563,000 square feet, in the second quarter of 2012. The average asking rent in the area was $49.16 per square foot, slightly less than $50.40 in the city as a whole.

Atlanta

Atlanta’s Regent Partners is in contract to buy the city’s iconic “King” and “Queen” skyscrapers, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. Regent formed a partnership with GEM Realty Capital, a private equity firm based in Chicago, to acquire Concourse Corporate Center, the 2.1 million-square foot, mixed-use development that’s home to the King and Queen buildings. Owner TIAA-CREF put the development on the market earlier this year. According to the Chronicle, Regent and GEM will buy the towers for around $300 million. Concourse was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, part of the first wave of suburban Atlanta office developments in what is known as the Perimeter District. According to Grubb & Ellis, the Perimeter saw significant leasing activity in the first quarter of 2012, with over 280,000 square feet of net absorption. That marks a significant rebound from 2011, when the area saw an annual net absorption of negative 510,000 square feet. In the first quarter, some 23.8 percent, or 5,430,000 square feet, of central Perimeter’s office space was vacant, and the average rent for Class A space was $21.59.

Colorado

Westfield Co., a Denver-based real estate investment company, announced last month that it has purchased the 461,438-square-foot Mountain View Corporate Center complex in Broomfield for $92 million, or $199 per square foot, according to the Boulder County Business Report. The seller was Hines VAF Mountain View LP, a fund owned by international real estate investment and development company Hines, which is building a nearby spec office building called Eos at Interlocken. The Mountain View Corporate Center, a Class A office property at 12002 Airport Way, is a four-building complex in Colorado’s “Outerlocken” area. Hines purchased the corporate center in 2006 for $71.5 million. The 27-acre site was 92 percent leased at the time of sale, with tenants including WhiteWave Foods and Time Warner Cable Inc.

Detroit

An 11-bedroom historic mansion called Stone Hedge has sold for $395,650 in cash, the Detroit Free Press reported. The 9,638-square-foot, English manor–style home, located at 700 West Boston Boulevard, was built in 1915 for the late Walter Briggs, an automobile mogul who owned the Detroit Tigers for 30 years before his death in 1952. Betty Warmack, a realtor at Real Estate One in St. Clair Shores, listed the home in March at $465,000. It was purchased by a couple with several children, she told the Free Press. According to Curbed Detroit, the house has nine fireplaces, an elevator, a cold storage closet for furs and a solarium. Elsewhere in Detroit, the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office last month put some 6,000 tax-foreclosed properties on the auction block, with starting bids for a house at $500, and $200 for vacant lots.

Malibu

Malibu

Blond bombshell Pamela Anderson, of “Baywatch” fame, has put her Malibu home on the rental market for $50,000 per month, the Los Angeles Times reported. The three-bedroom home has roughly 2,750 square feet of living space, which includes a home theater, a rooftop deck and a swimming pool. Christopher Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker has the listing. According to public records, Anderson purchased the home in 2000 for $1.8 million.

Peyton Manning’s new home

Denver

Quarterback Peyton Manning, who recently left the Indianapolis Colts for the Denver Broncos, last month paid $4.57 million for a seven-bedroom mansion in the Denver suburb of Englewood, TMZ reported. The 16,000-square-foot home has a seven-car garage and a panic room, as well as a heated indoor/outdoor kennel for the family dog.

Sandra Bullock

Austin

Actress Sandra Bullock, who owns residences across the country, listed her home in Austin, Tex., for $2.5 million, Curbed reported. According to public records, Bullock purchased the home in 1997 for $575,000.