Stamford RBS building sells for nine figures

— Royal Bank of Scotland sold its downtown Stamford office building for $163 million this week to Philadelphia real estate-investment firm Rubenstein Partners, a deal that marks the city’s largest property sale this year.

The sale of the approximately 450,000-square-foot complex at 600 Washington Blvd. — which houses RBS’ regional headquarters and local offices for UBS and Bank of America — comes almost exactly a year after RBS announced that it would sell the property. RBS will remain there as a tenant for the next 12 years, but the transaction allows the firm to cut costs in response to financial struggles that have contributed to more than 700 Stamford layoffs in the past four years.

The sale would not directly affect the about 500 RBS employees who remain in Stamford and focus on the bank’s NatWest Markets sales-and-trading operations, according to RBS officials.

“We are pleased to have sold 600 Washington Blvd., to Rubenstein Partners and look forward to working with their team and continuing to be a proud and valuable member of the Stamford community,” Paul Stevelman, head of NatWest Markets U.S., said in a statement Wednesday. “Our 12-year lease term demonstrates our commitment to Stamford and we believe that remaining in this building best serves our employees and our clients.”

Rubenstein’s acquisition, which netted the state about $2 million in conveyance taxes, will complement its co-ownership of the Shippan Landing complex in the city’s Shippan section.

“We feel strongly that 600 Washington Blvd., offers an exceptional long-term investment opportunity,” Rubenstein Regional Director Robert Andrews said in a statement. “This is an incredibly well-located office building with superior infrastructure and a high-quality tenant roster. We were able to leverage our familiarity with the market to secure and finalize the acquisition.”

Commercial real estate firm JLL, RBS’ exclusive U.S. leasing and sales agent, brokered the sale. The total compared with an appraised value last year of about $150 million, according to the online property database Vision Appraisal.

“JLL is pleased to have represented NatWest Markets in this landmark transaction,” JLL Managing Director Gil Ohls said in a statement. “600 Washington Blvd. is unmatched in its tenancy and in the quality of its infrastructure, and we are pleased to have helped strengthen the position of this asset, and the marketSTAMFORD place as a whole, through the lease-up and sale of the property.”

Not everyone is pleased with the sale.

Last Friday, about 35 cafeteria workers at 600 Washington were laid off, a move that the workers’ union largely blamed on Rubenstein.

About 85 percent of 600 Washington is occupied. RBS takes about 90,000 square feet, UBS occupies approximately 120,000 square feet, while Citizens Bank leases around 35,000 square feet. Bank of America opened an approximately 115,000-square-foot center there last year.

Rubenstein’s planned upgrades include re-purposing unused space in the building into offices for future tenants.

RBS opened the steel-andglass tower in 2009. A package of up to $100 million in state tax credits supported a company investment of $400 million.