Landmark Sacramento Office Building Changes Hands

SACRAMENTO, CA, 20 December 2018 – JLL Capital Markets has completed the sale of The Senator, a 180,123 square foot landmark office building located directly across from the State Capitol at 1121 L Street in Sacramento. The buyer was Seagate Properties, a real estate investment company with offices in the Bay Area and Denver, Colorado. 

Rob Hielscher, Michel Seifer and Erik Hanson led the Capital Markets team that handled the sale on behalf of the seller, Swift Real Estate Partners. In addition, Alex Witt, John Manning and Tom Gilliland of JLL Capital Markets worked with Seagate Properties to arrange acquisition financing for the project.

“The Senator Building is an irreplaceable landmark asset in the Sacramento market that continues to evolve to fit the needs of a diverse tenant base that seeks an office location adjacent to the State Capitol. Swift has done an excellent job executing the business plan of converting a number of office suites to creative space, and Seagate has several opportunities to continue to add value to this historic building,” said Rob Hielscher of JLL.

The Senator was opened in 1924 as one of the West Coast’s premier hotels and converted to an office building in 1982. Swift Real Estate acquired the building in 2015 and initiated a renovation program designed to convert the building’s traditional office space into modern, creative workspace.

“We acquired The Senator back in 2015, excited to increase our portfolio in the Sacramento market. The building’s history, character and location presented an exciting opportunity to revive one of Sacramento’s most iconic buildings. By updating dated office suites to creative office, we were able to increase occupancy and complete our business plan. We are thrilled to sell to Seagate, a great owner who will do a wonderful job with the building,” said Tom Harris, an Investment Manager at Swift Real Estate Partners.

The 10-story office building is currently 88 percent leased and is considered to be the premier office address for lobbyists in downtown Sacramento. The Senator is located within a Qualified Opportunity Zone, established in 2017, and is surrounded by retail and entertainment amenities. It is just four blocks from the burgeoning Arena District anchored by the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center.

“We’re excited to continue to improve on this beautiful historic property,” said Brian Johnson, principal at Seagate. “Swift has done a great job reviving and improving the building, and we look forward to continuing to bring it back to its original splendor, while also adding new elements that today’s office tenants are seeking.” 

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm’s in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether a sale, financing, repositioning, advisory or recapitalization execution. In 2017 alone, the firm’s 2,000 Capital Markets specialists completed $170 billion in investment sale and debt and equity transactions globally.

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