El Paso Electric's $15M Wins HQ Office in CBD

EL PASO-El Paso Electric Co. has paid $15 million for its 379,012-sf headquarters building, which is the largest class A office in the Downtown. The sale has garnered the highest price per sf to date any CBD office building.

The tenant won the deal in a competitive bid process for the asset at 100 N. Stanton St., according to a press release by Jeffrey R. Dunne, vice chairman in New York City for CB Richard Ellis. He and CBRE first vice president Patrick J. Bisceglia, associate Todd Newman and the firm’s managing director Michael White in El Paso brokered the deal. Sources say several offers were generated for the sellers, Zurich Alternative Asset Management LLC, an insurance lender with its US headquarters in New York City, and Stamford, CT-based RVI Group.

A source familiar with the transaction tells GlobeSt.com that the deal came down to El Paso Electric’s desire to exercise its right of first refusal for its headquarters building. “They’d moved in as a tenant years ago and ended up buying it so they could control their future destiny,” the source says. “A lot of electric and utility companies do that. They’d rather own their headquarters than lease them.”