The 17th Street Plaza building on March 13, 2024. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
There could be a new listing to chase downtown.
17th Street Plaza at 1225 17th St. is a 32-story, nearly 500,000-square-foot office tower in Denver’s Central Business District.
The tower built in 1982 was purchased in 2017 by Equity Commonwealth, a Chicago-based real estate investment fund, for $169.7 million. It is the 13th-tallest building in Denver, and houses the Denver offices of real estate brokerages JLL and CBRE, among other tenants.
And one of the fund’s prominent shareholders wishes it was in someone else’s hands.
“It is long overdue for Equity Commonwealth to undergo a complete liquidation of its remaining assets and return the cash to shareholders,” said Jonathan Litt in a letter to the company’s board of directors this week.
Salesforce signage was installed atop the building in 2020. (BusinessDen file)
The firm Litt founded, Land & Buildings Investment Management, said it has a 3% stake in Equity Commonwealth, which is publicly traded.
Litt would like to see Equity Commonwealth sell its entire portfolio, which is small. Besides 17th Street Plaza, the fund owns three other office buildings, in Washington D.C. and Austin.
Last year, Equity Commonwealth spent $37 million managing those properties, which Litt wrote was “a black eye for the Company.”
In addition to high operating expenses, Litt said that impending interest rate cuts and a challenging office market will make it difficult for the firm to continue returning value to shareholders.
“It is highly unlikely EQC can execute on a transaction that will create more value relative to a full liquidation of the Company,” Litt wrote.
Equity Commonwealth has not publicly responded to Litt’s letter.
Sam Zell, a billionaire who made his fortune primarily in real estate, ran the fund until his death last year. He took control of the investments via a hostile takeover about a decade ago.
Prior to being purchased by Equity Commonwealth, 17th Street Plaza last sold in 2006 for $120 million.
The building has more than 120,000 square feet of space, per the property’s website. Other tenants include Salesforce and Trammell Crow.
The 17th Street Plaza building on March 13, 2024. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
There could be a new listing to chase downtown.
17th Street Plaza at 1225 17th St. is a 32-story, nearly 500,000-square-foot office tower in Denver’s Central Business District.
The tower built in 1982 was purchased in 2017 by Equity Commonwealth, a Chicago-based real estate investment fund, for $169.7 million. It is the 13th-tallest building in Denver, and houses the Denver offices of real estate brokerages JLL and CBRE, among other tenants.
And one of the fund’s prominent shareholders wishes it was in someone else’s hands.
“It is long overdue for Equity Commonwealth to undergo a complete liquidation of its remaining assets and return the cash to shareholders,” said Jonathan Litt in a letter to the company’s board of directors this week.
Salesforce signage was installed atop the building in 2020. (BusinessDen file)
The firm Litt founded, Land & Buildings Investment Management, said it has a 3% stake in Equity Commonwealth, which is publicly traded.
Litt would like to see Equity Commonwealth sell its entire portfolio, which is small. Besides 17th Street Plaza, the fund owns three other office buildings, in Washington D.C. and Austin.
Last year, Equity Commonwealth spent $37 million managing those properties, which Litt wrote was “a black eye for the Company.”
In addition to high operating expenses, Litt said that impending interest rate cuts and a challenging office market will make it difficult for the firm to continue returning value to shareholders.
“It is highly unlikely EQC can execute on a transaction that will create more value relative to a full liquidation of the Company,” Litt wrote.
Equity Commonwealth has not publicly responded to Litt’s letter.
Sam Zell, a billionaire who made his fortune primarily in real estate, ran the fund until his death last year. He took control of the investments via a hostile takeover about a decade ago.
Prior to being purchased by Equity Commonwealth, 17th Street Plaza last sold in 2006 for $120 million.
The building has more than 120,000 square feet of space, per the property’s website. Other tenants include Salesforce and Trammell Crow.
