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Investors Purchase SunTrust Tower

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By DAVE SIMANOFF, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

TAMPA - Two investment groups - one located across the state and one across the globe - have teamed up to buy one of Tampa's landmark office buildings.

Macquarie Office Trust and Stiles Capital Partners have purchased SunTrust Financial Centre, the 36-story, ziggurat-topped tower downtown at 401 E. Jackson St., for $117.5 million.

Macquarie, based in Sydney, Australia, bought the building. Stiles Capital, based in Fort Lauderdale, will manage the building and will have the option to purchase a minority interest in it early next year.

Mark Corlew, Stiles Capital's managing director, describes the deal as a joint venture between the companies. He said Thursday that Macquarie and Stiles Capital are planning to invest between $3.5 million and $4 million in improvements at SunTrust Financial Center, including upgraded elevator and environmental systems, and changes in the lobby and plaza.

Corlew said the acquisition includes a 1-acre site adjacent to the office building, which is used for parking but could be redeveloped in the future.

SunTrust Financial Centre houses the local headquarters of SunTrust Bank. It's also home to a number of legal and accounting firms. The 527,237-square-foot building, which opened in 1992, is one of the most prominent features in downtown Tampa's skyline because of its distinctive roof, which is lit in different colors on special occasions.

SunTrust Financial Center is one of the area's 'top trophy buildings,' said Larry Richey, senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate services firm.

Richey said the acquisition shows investors are bullish on downtown Tampa. It also shows some investors are able to sidestep the credit problems weighing down Wall Street.

'A sale of this magnitude, with offshore investment, is not really impacted by what's going on in the U.S. capital markets,' he said.

Reporter Dave Simanoff can be reached at (813) 259-7762 or dsimanoff@

tampatrib.com.

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