(Bloomberg) --Hudson Yards developer Related Cos. is adding to its South Florida property portfolio with the acquisition of an office tower that counts outposts of Morgan Stanley and other finance companies as tenants.
An affiliate of Related has agreed to pay $282 million to buy the Phillips Point building in West Palm Beach, according to people familiar with the purchase, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.
A representative for Related declined to comment.
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed companies to consider new ways to provide office space for employees who have grown accustomed to working remotely. Related’s deal comes as Wall Street firms, long clustered in Manhattan, look to Florida as they shift some workers away from New York.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which maintains a small office in Phillips Point, has been weighing plans to create a South Florida hub for its asset-management arm. And electronic market maker Virtu Financial Inc. is preparing to move about 30 employees from New York to Palm Beach Gardens.
Related, known for developing massive mixed-use complexes including Manhattan’s Hudson Yards and Time Warner Center, has been active in West Palm Beach in recent years. It’s building offices and apartments in a neighborhood called Rosemary Square that sits adjacent to a high-speed rail station. It’s also building another office tower at One Flagler, and owns the Hilton West Palm Beach.
AEW Capital Management previously acquired Phillips Point for $245.5 million in 2015, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc.
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