Denver’s second-tallest skyscraper, at 1801 California St., changed hands Friday in a $215 million sale.
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. and an investment consortium purchased the former Qwest tower from PSEG Energy Holdings, Brookfield announced Friday.
Brookfield will hold a 51 percent interest, worth $110 million, in the 54-story office building in Denver’s central business district and manage it on behalf of the other investors.
The tower now bears a CenturyLink sign. The company bought Qwest in April.
CenturyLink in October signed a five-year lease for 150,000 square feet of space, as well as for 35,000 square feet of temporary space, spokesman John Hall said.
That’s much less than the two-thirds of the building’s 1.4 million square feet that Qwest once occupied.
CenturyLink is trying to consolidate employees into the buildings it owns, Hall said.
But he added that 1801 California will continue to carry its sign.
“We are occupying less space because some of those employees have moved out,” Hall said. “It is still an important location for us.”
Brookfield said the purchase is a vote of confidence in Denver’s commercial real estate market and part of the company’s larger strategy of owning the premier buildings in the best areas.
“The Denver market has demonstrated strong fundamentals with positive absorption and job growth over the past 18 months,” said Dennis Friedrich, president and global chief investment officer of Brookfield Office Properties.
The Class A building is Denver’s second-tallest skyscraper after Republic Plaza, which Brookfield also owns. Brookfield said the 1801 California building is 100 percent leased, with 80 percent of the leases expiring by July 2012. CenturyLink’s new lease takes effect July 1.
Other large tenants include Patton Boggs and MWH Americas Inc.
PSEG, which has owned the building since 1991, said it was selling it to focus on energy investments in the United States.
The skyscraper, built in 1983, made headlines 10 years ago when its signature Qwest sign lit up the skyline with a blue light so bright that it drew protests from the Curtis Park neighborhood.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi
