The price for the 70,000 sf of land is undisclosed. Joseph Grasso, who heads Walnut Street Capital, formerly named J. Grasso Properties, tells GlobeSt.com, "Verizon paid $26 million for the property, and we paid more than that. We think we got a bargain," he adds. Robert Fahey and Lizann McGowan of the local office of CB Richard Ellis represented Verizon in the sale, and Walnut Street Capital was represented in house.

The lot is located across the street from the nearly completed 57-story, 1.2-million-sf Comcast Center, which Grasso terms "breathtaking, deserving of a better neighbor." The parking lot is zoned for approximately 750,000 sf of retail, residential, office and/or hotel.

The buyer's plans are in their infancy, but Grasso says will include "a 600-vehicle, below-grade parking garage, 200,000 sf of retail, and one or two towers for either office, a hotel or a combination of both." As for the current limit of 750,000 sf, he says, "we'd love an opportunity to build more" and will pursue that opportunity. Regarding height, he says, "that has to be worked out with the city and the surrounding neighborhood."