Dealmaker: Millennia Cos. Acquire Key Center for $268M

The Millennia Cos., Cleveland, purchased Key Center–Ohio’s tallest building–from real estate investment trust Columbia Property Trust, Atlanta, for $267.5 million.

The mixed-use property includes a 57‐story tower with 1.3 million square feet of class A office space, a 400‐key Marriott hotel and a 10‐story historic bank building. 

Built in 1991, the multi-tenanted Key Tower houses headquarters for both Key Bank and law firm BakerHostetler. 

Millennia Principal and CEO Frank Sinito said his firm sought a new corporate headquarters to accommodate the firm’s growth.

Berkadia Capital Mortgage Senior Managing Director Mark Vogel secured $262.5 million for the purchase from a consortium of banks including Citibank, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Apollo Capital.Vogel, based in Cleveland, said the lending group offered a loan to facilitate the acquisition, future improvements and immediate costs used to take the building’s occupancy to 95-plus percent. The office tower at Key Center was 82 percent leased as of December 31.

Sinito said Millennia plans a $24 million renovation to the tower lobby, the plaza and the hotel. 

With this sale, Columbia Property Trust exited Cleveland. The REIT also exited Houston market earlier this month when it sold three office properties, Energy Center I, 5 Houston Center and 515 Post Oak Boulevard, to Spear Street Capital, San Francisco, for $272 million. The three assets total 1.2 million square feet.