Equus Development Corp is on the move again in KOP, announcing the sale of 1000 Continental, a 205k SF trophy office building, for $63M (that's a whopping $307/SF). The buyer is California’s KBS Realty Advisors. Built on spec in 2008 by Equus' development arm BPG, 1000 Continental boasts 99% occupancy (Nationwide, Northwestern Mutual and Farmers Insurance are among the tenants), and the only LEED Silver certification for an office building in the market. JLL’s Jim Vesey, Doug Rodio, Jim Galbally and John Plower repped both sides in the transaction.

Doug tells us the deal exemplifies the growing willingness of institutional capital and out-of-state investors to pay a premium for best-in-class product. (We were the best-in-class in 4th grade history and no one ever gave us money for it.) "Most institutions will only look to buy core product and are primarily focused on the best buildings with the best tenants in the best locations," he says. There was similar interest for 1500 Spring Garden, a 1.1M SF Class A building on the edge of the traditional CBD. Doug's team arranged the property's $185M sale in November from one bunch of New Yorkers (Square Mile Capital) to another (Nightingale Properties, partnering with Carlton Associates). 1500's signature tenants include CBS, Independence Blue Cross, Thomson Reuters and Day & Zimmerman.