DATE: Wednesday, October 22, 1997           TAG: 9710220540

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   35 lines

GREENBRIER TOWERS PUT UP FOR SALE BY PRUDENTIAL

Greenbrier Towers, the twin office buildings in the heart of the city's business district, are for sale.

The seller is Prudential Life Insurance Co., which acquired the towers in April 1995 through foreclosure. A Prudential spokesman said the asking price is $16.5 million.

Typically, Prudential sells buildings obtained through foreclosure, said company spokesman Rick Matthews.

The Class A towers, with top-of-the-line amenities and average rents for upscale suburban office space, have filled up since the ownership shift and are close to 90 percent occupied. The lease rate is $16 a square foot. Larger tenants include Pagenet, the Cousteau Society, Consumer Portfolio Services and the city's economic development office. Prudential also has offices, which are not tied to the sale, in the buildings.

Built in 1985 and 1987, the six-story towers are the city's tallest office buildings. Each has close to 90,000 square feet, with building-height atriums.

There has been a lot of interest from potential buyers already, some of it local, said Gray Randolph of Robinson

Sigma Commercial Real Estate, the leasing agent. The market is good for Class A buildings, and the Greenbrier Towers may be especially attractive because of their location, he said.

``There's been a lot of growth out there, and that's part of reason they filled up so quickly,'' Randolph said. ``There are a lot of companies moving out there.''

Matthews said the sale is part of the company's new investment strategy. Prudential is selling most of its commercial real estate portfolio and investing in publicly traded securities such as real estate investment trusts.

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