New York Investment Firm Acquires White Plains Plaza for $105 Million

WHITE PLAINS—Argent Ventures, a privately held New York City-based investment firm, has acquired the twin-tower White Plains Plaza office property here from Ivy Realty of Greenwich, CT and DW Capital of New York City for $105 million. The deal represents the largest single asset office sale in Westchester County since 2010.

The purchase expands Argent’s presence in the White Plains commercial office market. An affiliate of Argent Ventures acquired the more than 906,000-square-foot Westchester One office building at 44 South Broadway in June 2017 for a reported purchase price of more than $126 million from Beacon Capital.

The transaction for White Plains Plaza, which consists of two institutional-quality Class A office buildings (1 North Broadway and 445 Hamilton Ave.) with retail totaling 715,365 square feet, was announced on Feb. 16 but closed several weeks ago. The deal and financing for the purchase was brokered by commercial brokerage firm Newmark.

The property is currently 76% leased to a roster of 74 companies. Among its major tenants include law firms Cuddy & Feder, LLP, Keane & Beane and Carl Zeiss Inc. Ivy and DW Capital transformed the buildings through a $24-million capital investment that created a collaborative work environment featuring new lobbies, outdoor plazas and common areas, and a broad base of amenities.

Newmark’s Tri-State Capital Markets Executive Managing Director Kevin Welsh, Managing Director Brian Schulz, Director Jason Emrani, and Co-Heads of New York Capital Markets Investment Sales Evan Layne and Brett Siegel and Divisional Head of International Capital Markets Alex Foshay facilitated the sale. Newmark Executive Managing Director Glenn Walsh acted as the team’s leasing market advisor. Newmark’s Capital Markets Strategies President Anthony Orso and Senior Managing Director Ari Schwartzbard worked on behalf of Argent to secure the acquisition financing for the sale. No further details on the financing of the transaction were released.

A source close to the deal said the property was put on the market last summer and a tentative purchase deal was reached last fall.

“This market-making transaction demonstrates investor appetite for Class A multi-tenant urban/suburban office properties and illustrates confidence in the long-term future of White Plains,” said Newmark’s Welsh. “White Plains Plaza was successfully repositioned by the execution of a transformational capital improvement program that created a highly collaborative work environment and powerful market position for the asset. The sale reinforces Argent’s strategic vision for White Plains as one of the premier mixed-use office markets in the Tri-State.”

Newmark officials pointed to the development pipeline in the City of White Plains as a “multifamily hub” with a number of major multifamily projects planned or underway. They note that once all the planned developments are delivered complete, the CBD population in White Plains has the potential to increase by more than 25%.

Representatives of Argent Ventures could not be reached for comment at press time. Argent at one time owned the Landmark at Eastview biotech campus in Greenburgh and Tarrytown. Argent acquired the 800,000 square foot office/lab campus that included one of the largest development sites in Westchester County from the foreclosing lender and then leased up the existing property and sold it to BioMed Realty Trust in 2004. Argent sold a retail development site to Home Depot in 2006, and sold the remaining 100 acres of adjacent development land to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in 2015.