Two Renaissance Center towers sold to real estate firm

Farmington Hills-based global firm Friedman Real Estate has purchased the 500 and 600 Renaissance Center towers in downtown Detroit from a Newark, N.J.-based energy company.

Jared Friedman, executive managing director of acquisitions and business development for the firm, confirmed the purchase Thursday, a week after the sale was finalized. Crain's Detroit previously reported the purchase.

After the purchase, Friedman and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced the insurance firm signed a long-term lease for the 500 River East Tower.

“The new lease arrangement extends our lease as the sole tenant for 500 River East Tower, which is the base for several major Blue Cross divisions,” said Sandy Alston-Childs, vice president, corporate services for Blue Cross, in a statement. “It reflects our unwavering commitment to downtown Detroit, where we have been a member of the business community for more than 80 years.”

The 500 River East Tower has been part of the Blue Cross downtown campus since 2011.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., the New Jersey-based company, owned Towers 500 and 600 through an affiliate called LMC Phase II, property records show. General Motors Co. owns or controls the rest of the Renaissance Center complex, where the automaker's global headquarters is based.

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Friedman said the firm will look to lease out 330,000 square feet available in the 600 tower.

“Since the construction of 500 & 600 River East Towers, it has been the chosen home for prominent corporate tenants," said David Friedman of Friedman Real Estate, in a statement. "We are excited to present a significant and rare opportunity to the market for a corporation to make 600 River East Tower a space of their own."

khall@detroitnews.com

@bykaleahall