The Singapore investment firm behind a financially challenged Atlanta high-rise has landed a deal to sell the office tower as part of a broader plan to pay down some of its debt.
Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust landed nearly $134 million in its agreement to sell 1100 Peachtree in midtown Atlanta to Spear Street Capital, a San Francisco investment firm. While the price tag represents a steep cut to the $175 million Manulife paid for the 28-story building about half a decade ago, the proceeds — combined with the overseas firm's other disposition efforts — will be put toward paying down a significant chunk of the nearly $204 million of loans it has that are scheduled to mature next year.
The roughly 585,000-square-foot tower is just shy of 70% occupied, according to CoStar data, and houses a number of high-profile professional service firms such as Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Jackson Spalding and Grant Thornton International.
While the deal marks the end of a challenging chapter for Manulife, for Spear Street Capital, it's just the beginning.
The firm has been on a tear in recent months as it looks to position itself at the forefront of the national office market recovery by leveraging valuation-pressured properties across the United States.
It recently made the winning bid at a foreclosure auction for the 20-story office tower at 2828 N. Harwood St. in Dallas, scooping up the roughly 228,000-square-foot building on the steps of the downtown courthouse for an undisclosed sum. Spear Street will soon kick off what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar renovation of the property as part of a capital improvement plan to add amenities and reposition the building to better align with shifting tenant demands.
Over the past year alone, the firm has dropped more than $550 million on office buildings in New York City, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere across the United States, according to CoStar.
Aiming for a 'stronger position'
Heavily discounted acquisitions are a theme that has played out across the nation, as property owners work to get financially stressed properties off their books.
The combination of depressed demand, stagnant leasing and the ongoing effects of flexible work has helped push the national office vacancy rate to a record high of nearly 14%, according to CoStar data. Tenants collectively handed back upward of 65 million square feet last year, boosting the total to more than 210 million square feet of move-outs since the start of 2020.
Those pandemic-induced factors have been exacerbated for a number of landlords across the country, and some — especially if they're facing maturing loan deadlines or mounting expenses — have been eager to offload underperforming properties, even if it means closing a deal at a deep discount to their initial investments.
For some hopeful investment firms, regional challenges and corresponding valuation drops have created a discounted opening.
Sales volume nationally has plummeted by more than 55% over the past year to $35 billion, according to CoStar data, a nearly 15-year low. Yet on a quarterly basis, sales held steady throughout 2024 and even ticked up in the early months of 2025 as significant discounts pushed an expanding group of investors to take advantage of more deals.
Manulife has provided the opportunity for a handful of those as it has scrambled to stay ahead of its looming debts.
The latest Atlanta disposition put Manulife US REIT “in a stronger position to negotiate a path for recovery and growth with its lenders,” CEO John Casasante said in a statement of the firm's plans, adding that it is “in active discussions on the divestment of additional properties."