Verizon Building Goes to EOP in $500M Play

NEW YORK CITY-While no official deal has been signed, Equity Office might be the winning bidder for the Verizon headquarters building at 1095 Ave. of the Americas, sources say, adding that the bid was close to $500 million. Equity Office officials had no comment. CB Richard Ellis, whose Robert Alexander, Robert Stillman, Darcy Stacom, and William Shanahan represent Verizon, also had no comment.

A Verizon spokesperson says the company is “still involved in evaluating bids. No one has been chosen yet. There is no signed contract.” The site is just one of a number of company-owned sites in the area that Verizon has put on the market. The 42-story Penn/Garment area site was built in 1970.

In a company conference call earlier this month, Reckson president and CEO Scott Rechler acknowledged his firm was in the running for the 1.2 million-sf site. He said Reckson and a partner were still interested in the building, but he expected it to be a while before any deals were sealed. “It’s competitive. We’re participating in it.”