Los Angeles, CA – November 17, 2016 – Coretrust Capital Partners, LLC, through its investment fund, Coretrust Value Fund I, purchased the controlling interests in multiple Two Liberty Place ownership entities. Two Liberty Place, totaling 1.2 million square feet, is an iconic part of the Philadelphia skyline. Designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects, the property is an integral part of Liberty Place, a 3 million square foot mixed use complex. The seller was a partnership advised and led by Parkway Properties, Inc. of Orlando, Florida (NYSE: PKY).
The property is a Trophy Class tower originally constructed as the headquarters for Cigna, which now occupies approximately one third of the office space in the building. Two Liberty, completed in 1990, provides tenants a market-leading amenity package with a full service café, conference facility and professionally- managed fitness center coupled with its immediate adjacency to 145,000 square feet of fashion and consumer retail, a 294-room Westin hotel, 113 luxury condominium units and its companion 1.2 million square foot office tower, One Liberty Place. Coretrust’s ownership will invest in maintaining Two Liberty’s high- end market profile by upgrading common areas with special emphasis on the tenant arrival experience and amenity spaces. Coretrust principal Randall Scott, a longtime Philadelphia resident and downtown office owner, said, “We are very pleased to have this opportunity and look forward to activating our plans to build on the heritage of this outstanding property.”
Coretrust Capital Partners was founded in 2014 by three former executives of Thomas Properties Group, Inc. (NYSE: TPGI). TPGI was a major Philadelphia office owner with a presence of over 4.5 million square feet which included the 2 million square foot Trophy Class I.M. Pei-designed Commerce Square. Coretrust is principally engaged in the acquisition, operation and re-positioning of large office assets through its Coretrust Value Fund I (CVFI), which it co-sponsored with Hawkeye Partners of Austin, TX. CVFI is a $250 million discretionary equity fund that closed in October 2015 with capacity for up to $1 billion of office properties. The firm is actively seeking value-add investment opportunities.