Highwoods expects to leave Kansas City office market, too

Highwoods Properties, which has reached an agreement to sell the Country Club Plaza, also expects to divest its holdings in four office buildings near the 55-acre commercial district.

“Eventually, we will likely sell those buildings,” Mark Mulhern, Highwoods senior vice president and chief financial officer, said of two buildings the company wholly owns at 2 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd. and 801 W. 47th St.

The company also “in due course will probably divest” its interests in two other buildings at 4801 Main St. and 4600 Madison Ave., Mulhern said.

“As part of our sale of the Country Club Plaza, our intention will be to effectively close our Kansas City office,” he said. That also likely includes selling Highwoods’ quarter interest in the Kessinger/Hunter real estate brokerage firm, he said.

The $660 million Plaza sale to a joint venture of Taubman Centers and Macerich Co., has a Feb. 1 closing date, with a 30-day extension option. Mulhern said it’s “still probably a February 1 closing, but it may be pushed back as far as March 1.”

Mulhern said Highwoods isn’t in a “huge hurry” to sell its office-building interests outside the Plaza deal, but “we’ll get to that in due time.”

The buildings at issue:

▪ 801 W. 47th St., a five-floor, 82,365-square-foot building 100 percent owned by Highwoods.

▪ 2 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd., a five-floor, 66,729-square-foot building 100 percent owned by Highwoods.

▪ 4801 Main St., a 10-floor, 292,000-square-foot building 50 percent owned by Highwoods.

▪ 4600 Madison Ave., a 16-floor, 261,980-square-foot building 12.5 percent owned by Highwoods.

Mulhern said the two five-floor buildings are fully occupied and the 10-story building, also known as the Plaza Colonnade, also is full. The Colonnade, a joint project with the Kansas City Public Library and Copaken Brooks, includes the Plaza library branch and restaurants.

He said the 16-floor tower is 83 percent occupied and is being marketed for lease by Kessinger/Hunter.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Highwoods expects to leave Kansas City office market, too."