Telecom giant Verizon has sold its more than 1 million-square-foot office campus in Irving for $344 million — one of the largest real estate deals in North Texas this year.
Verizon sold its 51-acre campus on Hidden Ridge Drive near State Highway 114 to Chicago-based Mesirow Financial.
Verizon agreed to rent the offices for at least 20 years with the potential to stay even longer.
The Las Colinas office sale won't affect development of a planned $1 billion mixed-use project next door.
"This transaction provides our company with immediate financial benefits and does so in a way that supports our continuing interests in the development of Las Colinas," John M. Vazquez, senior vice president and head of global real estate for Verizon, said in a statement. "The extension of our tenancy through a sale and restructured lease affirms the value we see of having located in such a dynamic area for so many years."
Cushman & Wakefield was Verizon's real estate adviser on the transaction.
The office buildings that sold are across the street from the 110-acre mixed-use development Verizon is planning with developer KDC to include offices, retail, apartments, hotel and a commuter rail station.
The proposed Hidden Ridge development will also include a new headquarters for Pioneer Natural Resources.
The campus Mesirow Financial bought was built in the 1990s and is Verizon's South Central Market headquarters. The low-rise office complex houses more than 2,800 Verizon employees and has room for additional workers, Verizon officials have said.
"This is a financial transaction this is unrelated to the planned development" at Hidden Ridge, Verizon spokesman Eric Wilkins said in an email.
The Hidden Ridge development across the street has been in the works for more than a year and would include more than 2 million square feet of new construction.
Mesirow Financial's purchase of the existing Verizon buildings is the latest in a series of such transactions between the two firms.
"In the last year and a half, we have monetized nearly $1 billion and 2.55 million square feet of key real estate for Verizon across two transactions," Mesirow's Douglas Barker said in a statement. "Both transactions are evidence of the tremendous amount of cooperation between both organizations and the strength of the terrific long-term relationship we have developed with Verizon.
"We are very excited to again partner with Verizon to help monetize a very strategic asset, this time in Irving, Texas."
Mesirow Financial said it plans to invest as much as $20 million in upgrades to the Las Colinas campus.
Last year Mesirow paid $650 million for a 133-acre, 1.4 million-square-foot Verizon operations center in Basking Ridge, N.J.
The $344 million sale in Irving will be one of the largest real estate transactions in North Texas this year.