Chicago investor Sam Zell made just over $100 million in two years on the Normandale Lake Office Park, nearly a 40 percent gain for his relatively brief ownership of the largest office property in Minnesota.
The deal, which closed Nov. 5, not only broke the record for largest real estate transaction in Twin Cities history, but shattered it by selling for about $369 million, according to the certificate of real estate value posted Monday night.
Zell's firm, Equity Group Investments, bought the sprawling Bloomington office complex for a then-record $265 million. A partnership led by MetLife was willing to pay an additional $104 million to that price when it bought the complex last month.
This marks the second-largest suburban office sale in the United States this year, said Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, the deal's brokerage firm.
The five skyway-connected office buildings total 1.7 million square feet, making the complex larger than the tallest office tower in downtown Minneapolis, the 55-story IDS Center.
On-site amenities like child care, carwashes and a 2,500-acre regional park out its front door are selling points, but the property's sale price highlights the competitive nature for premium office space in the Twin Cities.
Kristen Leigh Painter
