MRP Realty buys Three Parkway office building after snapping up Bourse

UPDATED. Washington-based MRP Realty Group, owner of the Bourse building, has expanded its Philadelphia footprint with the acquisition of the Three Parkway office tower at Cherry Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

In a release Wednesday, MRP said that in partnership with Charlotte, N.C.-based investment company Barings LLC it had bought the 600,000-square-foot office building, with plans to renovate its lobby and common areas, while adding a tenant lounge, a fitness center, and outdoor retail spaces.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

The 20-story Three Parkway building, which counts Drexel University and Enclara Pharmacia among its tenants, was Dallas-based TIER REIT's last remaining Philadelphia property after selling its stake in the Wanamaker building at 13th and Market Streets in January.

TIER REIT has said the sales are part of a strategy of exiting Philadelphia to focus on its core markets, primarily in Texas and parts of the South. Senior vice president Scott McLaughlin did not immediately return a call for comment.

MRP, meanwhile, has been rapidly expanding its Philadelphia holdings, with the Three Parkway acquisition as its eighth deal here in 35 months.

Last year, the company acquired the Bourse building near Independence Hall and two other nearby office structures. All are currently being renovated.

Its residential projects in the city include the 217-unit Griffin at Broad and Chestnut Streets, a former dorm building for the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

The property was marketed by real estate services firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., which also helped secure financing for the acquisition.