Houston firm buys part of Medtronic’s campus
A Houston real estate firm has bought two buildings in Medtronic’s Memphis office complex.
Boxer Property has been looking for tenants for the pair of prominent office buildings fronting Interstate 240 near Memphis International Airport.
The tree-lined area once formed part of an exclusive office district that included the headquarters of Fedex Corp., which has since relocated its head offices to East Memphis.
Medtronic Spine remains in business in Memphis while its parent company has been cutting operating costs.
Medtronic PLC, a medical device maker based in Ireland, sold the four-building campus in Memphis to Oak Street Real Estate Capital in January.
Boxer bought two buildings at 1810 Pyramid Place and 1840 Pyramid Place from Chicago-based Oak Street in June, Shelby County Assessor records show. The former contains 110,826 square feet and the other has 127,075 square feet. It is not clear how much empty space is available for lease.
Boxer officials in Houston and Memphis did not immediately return phone calls. The company’s website describes the firm as active in turning around office properties: “Boxer Property aggressively pursues the acquisition of value-add or distressed assets and loans throughout the country with a focus on secondary markets surrounding major metro centers.”
Medtronic acquired medical device maker Sofamor Danek in 1999 and its office campus near the airport at Pyramid Place. Danek had been one of the original firms at the center of Memphis’ orthopedic industry, which began here in 1934 and currently employs more than 16,000 workers in the region.
Several years ago, Medtronic planned expansions meant to raise its employment level to 1,825 workers in Memphis from 1,225. In 2017, the company announced market forces kept employment from surpassing about 1,400 at its Memphis unit, Medtronic Spine.
Medtronic, formerly based in Minnesota, moved its official headquarters to tax-friendly Ireland after buying Dublin-based rival Covidien in 2014.