Downtown high-rise sells for $36.8 million
A Downtown high-rise has sold for $36.8 million, illustrating continued interest in Columbus office space even during the pandemic.
The 26-story building at 65 E. State St. was purchased by Group RMC, a New York-based firm that owns more than a dozen office buildings in central Ohio, most of them in Dublin.
“This acquisition makes them the largest owner of multi-tenant office buildings in central Ohio, with more than 2.3 million square feet,” said Dan Dunsmoor, executive vice president of the Columbus office of Colliers International.
Dunsmoor, who represented the seller, Hertz Columbus, said the property had several suitors, despite a pandemic that has battered the commercial real estate market this year.
“We had 20 investors very seriously looking at the project,” Dunsmoor said.
“We narrowed it down to four groups that we thought were very strong. ... Group RMC is a rock-solid group.”
The 495,000-square-foot building, which overlooks the south side of the Statehouse, was built in 1983 along with its sister building next door, which houses the Sheraton hotel.
The office building is about 62% leased following several departures from major tenants including Plante Moran and Bakerhostetler.
The co-working space Wework had planned to occupy three of the top four floors before that company collapsed, leaving several floors unoccupied.
“Hertz took that as an opportunity to reset,” Dunsmoor said.
“Last year, Hertz completed more than $3 million in capital improvements to the building, including major exterior changes, a brand new fitness center and a new lobby.”
Dunsmoor said even though the pandemic has kept many office workers at home the past eight months, interest in
Columbus office space seems to be rising.
“We are slowly but surely seeing an uptick every week in tenant demand,” he said. “We really think the worse times are behind us. We’re seeing more confidence from companies and we’re seeing a lot of excitement on the investment side.” jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker