The years between 2000 and 2020 have proven to be quite eventful for the U.S. office market. The first decade started on the tail end of the dot-com bubble, which resulted in the boom and bust of an unprecedented real estate bubble. Then, the 2010s were marked by growth and consolidation, only to be capped by a global pandemic — the long-term effects of which remain uncertain. Nonetheless, the market continues to offer opportunities for those who can time their moves well and weather the occasional storm.

The last 20 years had a good share of trophy deals, which usually indicate strong market conditions. We used data from CommercialEdge to review the top 50 office transactions between 2000 and 2020. Specifically, we looked at office buildings of at least 50,000 square feet and mixed-use properties that have more than 50% office space (for further details, read our methodology). In addition to our top 50 list, we also zoomed in to the regional level, reviewing major deals in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West, as well as best-selling Class B office spaces and properties less than 250,000 square feet in size.

Key takeaways:

• In 2017, JDM Partners, Transwestern Investment Group acquired East Rio Salado Portfolio in Tempe for $928 million, landing at #42 in our top office sales between 2000-2020, while also claiming the third priciest transaction in the West.

• Traded for $920 million in 2011, the Starrett Lehigh Building in New York City is the #1 Class B office sale of the last 20 years.

• Overall, New York City dominates the list of best-selling office buildings since 2000 with the $2.8 billion sale of the General Motors Building marking the #1 U.S. office deal of the past 2 decades.

• Priciest office outside NYC: $1.6 billion sale of Century Plaza in LA

Keep reading to learn more about which U.S. office properties fetched top dollar in the past 20 years — both in and outside New York City.

Priciest Office Deal of the Last 20 Years: $2.8 Billion Sale of GM Building

New York City doesn’t just dominate the list of best-selling office buildings since 2000 — it also occupies the first 12 spots within the ranking. In fact, in terms of office deals outside of New York City, there are only 11 among the 50 entries — and more than half of those transactions represent portfolio deals. One such sale, the $1.64 billion Century Plaza portfolio in Los Angeles, is the highest ranking outside of New York City, reaching 13th place. Four Boston properties also made the list, led by 500 Boylston — sold in 2015 for $1.3 billion — and 222 Berkeley.

As far as the number of top sales recorded during each year, both 2006 and 2014 boast five entries. Other strong years in terms of number of sales of trophy offices include 2013 and 2016 — both of which featured four entries.

Meanwhile, in 2008, Boston Properties paid $4 billion to the Macklowe family for a portfolio that included four Midtown Manhattan office spaces. One of them, the General Motors Building at 767 5th Ave., raked in $2.8 billion to make it the #1 office deal in the U.S. since 2000. And, even before the New York commercial real estate market reached its feverish pre-crisis peak, the General Motors Building had previously sold for a hefty $1.4 billion in 2003 — landing it in 18th place for a second entry on the top 50 list.

Another office property that is featured twice in this ranking is the 1.4-million-square-foot News Corporation Building. Located at 1211 Avenue of the Americas and anchored by media giant Fox News, the property changed hands for $1.52 billion in 2006. Then, in 2013, Montreal-based Ivanhoe Cambridge acquired a 51% stake in the property for $855 million, enough to hand it the 50th position on the list.

Additionally, the Sony Tower at 550 Madison Ave. was acquired in 2013 for $1.1 billion by The Chetrit Group, which had plans to convert the 41-story high-rise into luxury condos. But, the plan was scrapped only three years later when Saudi conglomerate Olayan took ownership, paying $1.4 billion for the property.

Priciest Office Deal Outside NYC Since 2000: $1.6 Billion Sale of Century Plaza in Los Angeles

While the Northeast and Midwest are dominated by single-asset office sales, the majority of the top three office deals in the South and West are primarily portfolio sales. In particular, the three-building Century Plaza portfolio in Los Angeles is the largest among these. Encompassing 3.25 million square feet, it’s the #1 office deal in the West since 2000. The transaction closed in July 2014 when JP Morgan Asset Management acquired the properties for $1.6 billion.

Leading the list in the South, the Wilson Blvd. portfolio in Arlington, Va., sold for $1.26 billion in 2011. It’s followed by the State Street office portfolio in Richardson, Texas, which was acquired by Transwestern in 2016 for $825 million.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest, Blackstone paid $1.3 billion in 2015 to acquire the Willis Tower, which tops the 20-year list of best-selling office buildings in that region. A year before the sale of Willis Tower, another Chicago office space – located at 300 North LaSalle Drive – changed hands for $850 million.

Alternatively, considering the priciest office deals in the Northeast outside of New York City, all of the top three entries are occupied by Boston portfolio sales. Here, in 2015, 222 Berkeley Street and 500 Boylston Street went for $1.3 billion, while RMR forked over $1 billion for 11 Fan Pier Blvd. and 50 Northern Ave. in 2014.

Highest-Selling Office Space in 2020 Ranks 45th in Top 50 Sales of 2000-2020

Between 2005 and 2008, all three top office deals of each year carried price tags above the $1 billion threshold. The markets briefly readjusted in 2009, when the priciest office transaction was the more modest $590 million commanded by the 2-million-square-foot Worldwide Plaza. U.S. Office sales kicked back into high gear four years later and ushered in some of the highest office prices of the past 20 years.

Since 2013, deals above the $1 billion mark have become somewhat of a staple for top-ranking properties, with the occasional sales price even going as high as $2 to $3 billion. In particular, the sale of Chelsea Market in 2018 and 11 Madison Avenue in 2015 were the largest post-recession office transactions with price tags of $2.4 billion and $2.36 billion, respectively.

Notably, the former Coca-Cola Building at 711 5th Ave. changed hands twice within a month in 2019. It was initially acquired by Wafra Capital Partners for $909 million before being sold just a few weeks later to New York-based SHVO for $937 million. As such, these two rapid-fire transactions generated the highest average price per square foot ratio among top-selling buildings since 2000. More precisely, the 313,000-square-foot property averaged $2,900 per square foot for the first exchange and roughly $3,000 per square foot for the second.

So far, although none of the 2020 office transactions hit the $1 billion mark, the top three positions stuck close to the trend seen during previous years. German reinsurance giant, Munich Re bought 330 Madison Avenue for $900 million and SL Green fetched $810 million for the former Master Printers Building.