Cha-Ching: 10 Biggest Real Estate Deals of the Decade
By Steph Kukuljan – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal | Dec 30, 2019
As 2020 approaches, the Business Journal took a look back at the commercial real estate deals that defined the past decade.
The list of the highest-selling properties was complied from public records, real estate data firm Reonomy and previous reporting. The assets on the list below include single property sales, as well as local portfolio acquisitions.
Office buildings comprised the most number of property classes traded between 2009 and 2019, followed closely by hotels. The deals total more than $1.6 billion.
But perhaps the biggest surprise of the decade is Monsanto Co.'s 2010 acquisition of Pfizer's research center remains the top deal of the decade
Here's a look at the 10 largest commercial real estate deals of the decade:
1. Monsanto’s acquisition of Pfizer's Chesterfield Village Research Center
A traditional greenhouse photographed at Monsanto's Chesterfield Research Center on October 28, 2016, in Chesterfield, Missouri. | DILIP VISHWANAT
Price: $435 million
Buyer: Monsanto Co. (now Bayer)
Seller: Pfizer
Year: 2010
The details: The sale was part of Pfizer's move to cut about 600 of the then 1,000 employees at the facility following Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth. Pfizer later bought more land for a new R&D facility in Chesterfield.
2. Eldorado Resorts Inc. buys Lumière Place Casino and Hotel in downtown St. Louis
Price: $246 million
Buyer: Eldorado Resorts Inc.
Seller: Tropicana Entertainment Inc.
Year: 2018
The details: The downtown St. Louis hotel and casino were part of a larger acquisition between Tropicana Entertainment Inc., which owned Lumière, and Eldorado.
3. Starwood Capital JV’s acquisition of 15 properties in St. Louis
Price: Approximately $200 million
Buyer: Starwood Capital Group, Vanderbilt Partners and Trinity Capital Advisors
Seller: Duke Realty
Year: 2015
The details: The St. Louis properties included a mix of office and industrial properties and were part of a $1.1 billion nationwide deal between the joint venture and Duke Realty.
4. South County multifamily portfolio deal
Andrea Kendrick of Berkadia was one of the brokers involved in the South County apartments sale. | DILIP VISHWANAT | SLBJ
Price: $180 million
Buyer: Monarch Investment and Management Group
Seller: GEM Property Management
Year: 2018
The details: The deal included 2,000 units across six properties and is the largest multifamily transaction in St. Louis history.
5. CityPlace
Price: $137.6 million
Buyer: NorthStar Realty Finance and Redico
Seller: New Boston Fund Inc. and Koman Group
Year: 2014
The details: The deal consisted of six buildings in Creve Coeur.
6. The Ritz-Carlton
Price: $97.6 million
Buyer: BLR Properties LLC
Seller: Clayton St. Louis Property LLC
Year: 2018
The details: This transaction flew under the radar in 2018 and became the third-largest deal of 2018
7. Chase Park Plaza
Price: $87.75 million
Buyer: Hospitality Properties Trust
Seller: Behringer Harvard
Year: 2017
The details: Rebranded as the Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta Hotel, HPT invested about $15 million in upgrades to the property following its acquisition.
8. The Plaza in Clayton
Price: $85.5 million
Buyer: Franklin Partners
Seller: KBS Realty Partners
Year: 2017
The details: The deal remains the St. Louis region's largest real estate transaction for a single office asset since 2007.
9. Downtown data centers (900 Walnut/210 N. Tucker)
Price: $81.5 million
Buyer: Netrality Properties
Seller: Digital Realty
Year: 2016
The details: The two data center buildings are referred to as "carrier hotels" — those that serve as access points to the region’s long-haul fiber optic networks that connect St. Louis to the world.
10. Gershman's acquisition of Sachs' Chesterfield portfolio
From left: Gershman's Mark Burkhart, Christopher Fox and Thomas Stern. | MICHAEL B. THOMAS FOR SLBJ
Price: $78.1 million
Buyer: Gershman Commercial Real Estate and BurkHill Real Estate LLC
Seller: Sachs Properties
Year: 2019
The details: In addition to being one of the largest of the decade, the deal was also the largest in Gershman's history and marked a major turning point for Sachs.