Former Freeport-McMoRan Headquarters Headed for Sale

The former Phoenix headquarters of Freeport-McMoRan is about to hit the market.

El Segundo-based Peakstone Realty Trust is reportedly looking to sell Freeport’s nearly 250,000-square-foot headquarters in downtown Phoenix, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. Freeport-McMoRan currently leases the space.

The asking price hasn’t been disclosed, though CJ Osbrink of Newmark, who is helping handle the sale, told the Business Journal they’re anticipating selling in “the low $40 million price range.”

“It’s the first time ever that this building — which is one of the newest buildings in downtown Phoenix, a 2010 development — has been available,” Osbrink said. “There’s opportunity in [downtown Phoenix]… The market has kind of hit the bottom, and we see this as an opportunity to come in and own your own building, a trophy headquarters building.”

The 26-story high-rise tower has offices on its top eight floors while the 242-room Westin Phoenix Downtown hotel takes up floors 11 through 18. Parking and other uses account for the rest of the space.

The office and hotel portions each have their own lobbies, elevators and separate parking. The Westin hotel will not be impacted by the sale, which would also include 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Freeport-McMoRan has about a year and a half left in its lease. The mining company has been looking to sublease its former HQ since early 2024. It’s now in the process of planting its roots at the Cotton Center business park southeast of Phoenix airport.

Newmark executives noted that a buyer could split up the space into smaller pieces for multiple tenants or find one large tenant to fill the offices. A new owner could also convert some or all of the space into multifamily residences. Phoenix is among the top 10 cities leading the country in office-to-residential conversions, per CBRE.

The building at 333 North Central Avenue is on a 50-year government property lease excise tax, opening up incentives through an excise tax in place of property taxes for 25 years or providing the option to abate the excise tax for eight years in Phoenix’s central business district.

“[It] is a very favorable tax structure. Through 2060, the taxes decline every 10 years,” Newmark’s Barry Gabel, who’s helping with the sale, said. “That’s $2 to $3 a foot less expensive from an expense perspective.”

— Chris Malone Méndez