Darden Restaurants Inc. has sold its headquarters to New York-based real estate investment and asset management firm U.S. Realty Advisors LLC. The $133.3 million deal is for a 465,000 square-foot, three-story building at 3801 Taft Vineland in southwest Orlando. The deal includes office space and an integrated parking garage on John Young Parkway and Taft-Vineland Road. As part of the deal, Darden signed a 20-year deal to lease the full building with options to extend the lease term for another 30 years.
Darden has more than 1,500 restaurant locations and more than 150,000 employees. The firm owns several casual dining restaurant chains including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, The Capital Grille and Yard House.
“Orlando and Central Florida has been Darden’s home for more than 40 years, and it will continue to be our home,” the company wrote in a statement. “This transaction is one component of our broader real estate strategy that also includes the spin-off of Four Corners Property Trust Inc. and the sale-leaseback of 64 restaurant properties, both of which are nearing completion. Selling the building and leasing it back from the new owner provides us with a better way to utilize our capital to further strengthen the business and drive shareholder value.”
