Owner Seeks $30M Profit From Sale of Penn Mutual Towers

PHILADELPHIA-Broadway Real Estate Partners has put Penn Mutual Towers up for sale at an asking price of $115 million or just over $135 per sf. The New York-based company acquired the three conjoined buildings at 520-530 Markets St. in late August 2003 for $84.5 million from a joint venture between Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. and Whitehall.

At the time, the acquisition included not only the 849,308-sf office complex, but also an 18,315-sf adjoining, undeveloped land parcel. Since then, Broadway sold the parcel to a locally based developer for an undisclosed price. At the current asking price, not counting the sale of the adjoining parcel, Broadway would realize a gain of more than $30 million or $36 per sf.

Robert Fahey, EVP of the local office of CB Richard Ellis, is marketing the office complex. “The property was 85% leased when Broadway bought it, and it faced the loss of about 65,000 sf by a major law firm,” Fahey tells GlobeSt.com. “Since then they significantly enhanced the rent roll and added Ace, a major, creditworthy tenant, with 160,000 sf, and taken occupancy to 93%. They accomplished their plan.” Fahey says he’s had interest from both regional and national prospects.

The earliest of the structures, Penn Mutual Life, is a 10-story neoclassical building across from Washington Square Park that was joined in 1931 by a comparably styled 20-story building. In 1975, a 22-story contemporary concrete and glass structure was added, facing Independence Hall. The entire complex was fully renovated in the 1990s. An adjacent 600-car underground garage is included with the property.