Wells Fargo Bank Plaza
221 North Kansas
El Paso, Texas
The Wells Fargo Bank Plaza (formerly known as the Norwest Bank Plaza) is a Class A, 325,092 net rentable square foot office tower, an adjacent parking garage with a capacity for 570 vehicles and an office warehouse /retail facility with approximately 30,000 gross square feet. A climate-controlled tunnel under Kansas Street links the office tower and garage.
Wells Fargo Bank Plaza is a 22-story landmark in the heart of downtown El Paso. The property is located in that area of the central business district known as the Financial District. The property is within convenient distance to downtown El Paso’s court complex, government offices, competing Class A office projects and hotel accommodations, and is approximately six blocks south of Interstate Highway 10, the major east-west corridor for El Paso.
Situated on approximately three-fourths of a city block, the Wells Fargo Bank Plaza office building has a frontage in Mills Avenue, Kansas Street, Texas Avenue and Stanton Street. Wells Fargo Bank Plaza’s parking garage is located north across Kansas Street and shares a full city block with the complex’s office/warehouse/retail facility. The proximity to Interstate 10 represents a major advantage for the neighborhood by providing ready access to suburban El Paso markets and residential areas.
Ownership
Griffin Partners (GP) acquired Wells Fargo Bank Plaza in June of 2000 from Norwest Bank, N.A. Occupying a highly visible downtown El Paso location, the twenty-two story Wells Fargo Bank Plaza Building is El Paso's Landmark CBD office tower. The Class A, 325,092 square foot office tower has an adjacent parking garage with a capacity for 520 vehicles. The acquisition also included an adjacent office/warehouse/retail facility with approximately 30,000 square feet. The site encompasses approximately 1.75 prime city blocks.
This is a value added investment strategy where Griffin Partners purchased an asset that was underperforming due primarily to poor management and ownership and deferred maintenance. In addition to improving the management and maintenance and signing new tenants, GP re-developed the adjacent site by demolishing the office/warehouse and building a 60,000 square foot primary service center for the El Paso County 911 Emergency Dispatch District. Once the facility was completed, the District purchased the 60,000 building from GP for a net profit that exceeded $2,000,000.
The investment was harvested in June of 2008 when the property was sold to a private REIT.