OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2016. Cushman & Wakefield announced today that the global real estate services firm represented Verizon on a purchase and leaseback transaction valued at \\$344.0 million for the 1.15-million-square foot Verizon Hidden Ridge campus in Irving, TX. The sale was effectuated through a transfer of the property to Mesirow Financial, along with a lease agreement for a new 20-year term which provided Verizon with \\$20 million worth of tenant improvements. In addition, the land was subdivided by Verizon with a portion being retained by Verizon for possible future development. The Cushman & Wakefield team was led by its Corporate Finance & Investment Banking group in combination with the company’s New York brokerage team.

Cushman & Wakefield acted as financial advisor and exclusive agent for Verizon on the transaction, which represents one of the largest single tenant leasebacks ever completed in suburban Dallas. 

The campus, which currently houses approximately 2,800 full-time employees and contractors, but is expected to increase to 3,500 by year end, was acquired by Mesirow Realty Sale-Leaseback, Inc., a division of Mesirow Financial, a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Verizon will continue to occupy the regional headquarters facility, and this transaction has no impact on the company’s business operations there. The transaction represents the second large Verizon sale-leaseback purchase by Mesirow in the past few years. In 2015, Mesirow purchased a 1.4 million-square foot Verizon operations center in Basking Ridge, NJ for \\$650.3 million.

The campus, a key to Verizon’s corporate presence in Texas, houses a full range of businesses within Verizon Communications, while serving as the South Central Market Headquarters for Verizon Wireless. In addition, the campus is adjacent to a 110-acre site owned by Verizon that has recently received approval to incorporate transit oriented development uses, which enables the potential development of a mix-used office park with a lifestyle core served by a planned DART rail stop just steps away from the Hidden Ridge campus.

“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. 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," said John M. Vazquez, senior vice president and head of global real estate for Verizon. “Cushman &