C&W’s Criddle, Freitas Negotiate 83,000 SF In Lease Deals At Cypress Executive Center

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Cushman & Wakefield leasing agents John Criddle and Joseph Freitas have leased more than 83,000 square feet of space at Cypress Executive Center.

Criddle and Freitas represented ICM Realty Group in securing new leases with Delphi Behavioral Health Group, Wells Fargo Bank and Royal Seas Cruise Lines and secured lease renewals with Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Humana Medical.

Cypress Executive Center is a six-story, 140,635-square-foot, Class A office building located in the heart of Cypress Creek at 1901 West Cypress Road.

ICM purchased Cypress Executive Center in early 2015 and has since successfully repositioned the building into a Class A property via an aggressive building renovation program. Improvements include the complete renovation of the building lobby, common areas, rest rooms and exterior landscaping, plus newly added amenities including a tenant wi-fi lounge, café and conference facility.

“We’re seeing tremendous interest in Cypress Executive Center driven by both ICM’s capital investments and prevailing market trends, which are driving demand in non-CBD markets like Cypress Creek,” said Criddle.

According to Cushman & Wakefield research, a tightening downtown Fort Lauderdale office market has boosted suburban demand. Coupled with significant regional employment gains, the Broward County office market stands to see significant gains in the coming months.

“As the Downtown CBD becomes less of an option due to limited space, many suburban markets that have not peaked will become more attractive to those forced out of downtown due to the high asking rental rates and restricted space availability,” wrote Senior Research Analyst Valerie Tatum in the firm’s 2Q 2016 Broward County Office MarketBeat report. “With limited construction in the pipeline, Cushman & Wakefield anticipates market fundamentals to tighten through the back end of 2016.”

 

Valley National Bank Moves To East Las Olas With 10-Year Lease Deal

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Stiles Realty announced today that Valley National Bank has signed a 10-year lease deal at Stiles’ corporate headquarters located at 301 East Las Olas Blvd. in the heart of the downtown Fort Lauderdale financial district.

The financial institution and its more than 30 employees will occupy 3,600 square feet of prime ground floor bank space, which features an ATM directly on Las Olas Blvd., as well as 4,000 square feet of second floor office space for its wealth management and commercial lending operations.

Stiles Realty Senior Vice President Norm Adams represented the landlord in the transaction while Richard Kaufman, of Strategic Realty, represented the tenant.

“This move allows us to offer our clients enhanced services as well as all of the conveniences Las Olas Blvd. has to offer while positioning our brand in the center of the financial district,” said Rudy Schupp, Executive Vice President at Valley National Bank.

Valley National Bank will relocate from a former branch on South Federal Highway in Ft. Lauderdale. The move provides the bank with direct Las Olas exposure, covered parking and proximity to area nightlife, culture and entertainment. The bank space build-out is underway with a slated October opening.

“The deal further fortifies the financial district on Las Olas,” commented Adams. “This corner is highly desirable because of its access to retail, entertainment, restaurants and key financial services firms.”

Adams commented that lease rates on Las Olas have reached all-time highs, but he does not believe they are at their peak.

“The Las Olas corridor has very few options for new market entries. We expect additional rate growth due to the tightening market,” added Adams.

The Plaza at Las Olas features a manicured brick-paved drive around a central fountain, 24-hour security, elegant lobby with high-end finishes and hurricane glass. The property is surrounded by parking and is within walking distance to some of Fort Lauderdale’s most popular dining, entertainment and nightlife, including: YOLO restaurant; Vibe nightclub; FAU; Broward College; Broward Center for the Performing Arts; Fort Lauderdale Art Museum; and more.

In the center of six million square feet of commercial office and mixed-use space, the Plaza at Las Olas is immediately accessible to a daytime population of over 63,000 people. Over 2,200 new residential units are in development within a one-mile radius. Easily accessible from I-595, I-95 and US-1, The Plaza at Las Olas is within a ten-minute drive of Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.

 

Marcus & Millichap’s Mandel, Everett Negotiate Sale Of Class A Office Building

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Marcus & Millichap Senior Vice President and Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) senior director Douglas K. Mandel, along with and C. Todd Everett, SIOR, Director, NOIPG, negotiated the sale of Northpoint Corporate Center, a 98,903-square-foot Class A office building located at 701 Northpoint Parkway in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Doug Mandel and Todd EverettSmithfield, R.I.-based Douglas Pike Associates, LLC purchased the five-story office building for $15,000,000. The purchase includes a separate, free-standing office outparcel of approximately 2,000 square feet located on the south side of the main building and directly on the lakefront.

The deal closed June 30.

Mandel and Everett jointly represented both the Seller, The Realty Associates Fund VIII, L.P., and the Buyer in the transaction.

Since Northpoint Corporate Center was developed in 1988 by Stiles Corporation, the building has attracted such prominent tenants as CBS, BellSouth, BlueCross BlueShield, ADP Inc., Traveler’s Insurance and First American Title.

The property is located at the 45th Street I-95 Interchange in West Palm Beach, just minutes from nearby restaurants, retail shops and the Marriott Courtyard Hotel and approximately 15 minutes from the Palm Beach International Airport. Northpoint Corporate Center was also awarded an Energy Star label in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for its operating efficiency.

 

“The building has attracted the attention of an array of investors as well as a variety of Fortune 500 companies due to its excellent location and large, flexible floor plates that can accommodate tenants in excess of 20,000 square feet,” commented Mandel.

Including this deal, Mandel has closed more than $200 million in sales this year, including the sale of the following Palm Beach County assets:

  • New Century Commons in Delray Beach, which sold for $33,000,000.
  • Gulfstream Plaza in West Palm Beach, which sold $13,050,000, just more than double what it last traded for in 2013.
  • Atrium at Broken Sound, a 98,000 SF office building in Boca Raton, which sold on January 14 for $17,050,000.
  • And, together with Everett, the sale of 314 Clematis, a 27,091-square-foot office building located in West Palm Beach, for $6,750,000.

“The West Palm Beach market is undergoing explosive developmental growth with many new mega-scale projects in the works, forecasting continued strong demand for real estate within the county well into the future,” Mandel added.

Let’s Extend A BIG ‘Thank You’ To Douglas Mandel!

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As many of you know, we were unable to secure the funding necessary to keep the SFOBA website up and running and had announced that we would be deactivating the site effective June 28th.

Just when we thought the site we worked so hard to build was coming down, along comes Marcus & Millichap Senior Vice President and Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) senior director Douglas K. Mandel.

Douglas, single-handedly, has agreed to sponsor the SFOBA website, allowing us to continue to post meeting announcements and relevant news for another year!

Please join us in letting Douglas know just how much we appreciate his stepping up to the plate to save the SFOBA site!

 

 

An Afternoon in Crocker Raton

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The South Florida Office Brokers Association meeting for June 2015 was held at One Town Center, the former Tyco building located within the complex now known as Boca Center. Our guest speaker Angelo Bianco of Crocker Partners told us that most locals still know Boca Center by its former name.

The iconic mixed-use complex located along Military Trail south of Glades Road in Central Boca Raton contains office space, a Marriott hotel, and upscale shops and restaurants. It has been used as a case study by the Urban Land Institute for excellence in a mixed-use project. The property was originally developed by Crocker and Company back in the mid-1980s and is still widely known by its original name, Crocker Center.

Over the years, the buildings were sold to Teachers Insurance and Annuity and Met Life. But over the last 12 months, Crocker Partners has invested more than $340 million in Boca Raton, reacquiring the shops and towers at Boca Center, The Plaza and One Town Center. Just north of Boca Center, Crocker also acquired the 277,000 sf One Boca Place, the longest and largest office building in the market. So even if Boca Center is not renamed back to Crocker Center, the running joke is that maybe the city should be renamed Crocker Raton.

What is not a joke is that Crocker Partners now controls 94% of the vacant Class-A space in the Boca Raton office market. According to Mike Erickson of CBRE, who leases the Boca Center properties for Crocker, “office rental rates north of $30 per sf triple net (which is over $40 including operating expenses) are the new normal in Boca Raton. Vacancies are down and construction is flat so we are going to continue to push rental rates.”

In order to justify the higher rental rates,  Crocker Partners will be upgrading the properties to compete in today’s market. One Town Center will be positioned to continue to appeal to private equity firms. The Plaza, the black office tower anchored by Wells Fargo, will be modernized and positioned as an ultra high-end concierge building targeted toward upscale local tenants. It will be priced at a monthly dollar amount rather than per square foot.”A contemporary building with timeless appeal” said Bianco. All of the buildings will also offer valet parking.

The biggest changes will involve the retail space,which will be re-oriented for street visibility. “Don’t turn your back on the street” said Bianco. The restaurant space at Boca Center will surround an open courtyard to create more of a synergy, and a gym and a spa will be added to the hotel’s lower 2 floors.

Plans also include the addition of multifamily units to the project to capitalize on the current urbanization trend. The idea according to Bianco, is to combine the upscale shopping experience of Miami’s Bal Harbor shops or Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue with the trendy local appeal of Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue.

Will Crocker be able to raise the bar on rental rates in Central Boca? Can they repeat their earlier success with an updated Boca Center? And will the City Council consider renaming the city Crocker Raton? We’d like your opinion.

bianco crocker

HART COMMERCIAL NEGOTIATES PENTHOUSE FLOOR AT 33 DOWNTOWN

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Miami – January 28, 2015 – Hart Commercial announced today that Ytech International has signed a ten-year, 33 downtown6,046 square foot lease at 33 Downtown, located near the government center and Miami Dade’s main courthouse at 33 SW 2nd Avenue in Miami.  Hart Commercial’s Sherri Beregovoy represented the owner, Confesa USA, in the transaction.

 

“33 Downtown offers Ytech International, a nationwide multi-family investment and development company, the unique opportunity to lease the penthouse floor in a strategically located downtown building, that is currently under renovation,” said Sherri Beregovoy, senior vice president of Hart Commercial. “The building had been vacant since 2007, so we are thrilled to have brought in a premier tenant for our client’s building.”

 

About Hart Commercial, L.L.C.

 

Hart Commercial, L.L.C. is a full service commercial real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in investment sales, commercial leasing, tenant representation and delivering solutions to owners of real estate in the industrial, office, and retail markets. Hart Commercial and Hart Advisors Group are based in Dallas, Texas with offices in Miami, Florida and Orange County, California. For more information about Hart Commercial, please visit www.hart-commercial.com. For more information about Hart Advisors Group, please visit www.hartadvisorsgroup.com.