Cypress Creek Business Park Trades For $38M

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The Pinnacle Corporate Park in Fort Lauderdale has changed hands for $38.1 million.

Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Real Estate Investments sold the 500-550 Northwest 62nd Street business park last week for about $140 per square foot, according to Broward County records. The real estate arm of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance originally developed the 270,000-square-foot complex 27 years ago. It paid $9.47 million for the 14.3-acre site in 1985.

A company managed by New York-based DRA Advisors is the buyer. The DRA-managed company obtained a $27 million loan from Wells Fargo Bank for the acquisition. DRA is a registered investment advisor that specializes in real estate investment and management services for institutional and private investors. The company has $11 billion in assets under management.

An active investor in South Florida real estate, DRA’s regional portfolio includes the Broward Financial Centre in Fort Lauderdale, the 1900-2000 Offices in Boca Raton and Plantation Marketplace in Plantation.

Pinnacle, located within Fort Lauderdale’s dense Cypress Creek office market, is DRA’s most significant South Florida acquisition in more than a year. In October 2012, the company paid $28.5 million for the Polo Club Shoppes in Boca Raton.

Cypress Creek has been a recent target for major office investors based outside of South Florida. In September, San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group paid $33 million for Cypress Park West I and II at 6700 and 6750 North Andrews Avenue. Last Thursday, Stockbridge obtained a $25 million loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank for the acquisition of the two buildings totaling nearly 425,000 square feet.

The broader Cypress Creek office market faces occupancy challenges as 2013 winds down.

Cypress Creek vacancies totaled 25.5 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Its vacancy rate is highest in Broward County by more than five percentage points. Nearly 200,000 square feet at the BankAtlantic Corporate Center was vacated during the first quarter of 2013 as part of BB&T’s acquisition of BankAtlantic.

 

Source:  The Real Deal

 

Ivy Realty On A Tear

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Ivy Realty, a Greenwich-based real estate operating company, announced that since its purchase of the Heron Bay Corporate Campus in Coral Springs, the firm has leased over 53,685 square feet of office space in the hurricane-resistant, Class-A office building, boosting its occupancy from 48 percent to 86.5% percent.

Ivy Realty purchased the 89,000-square-foot campus in 2011 as part of a trio of commercial real estate investments in South Florida, as the firm eyed a recovery in the region.

The firm has amassed over 453,000 square feet of office space in South Florida in the last  30 months — an impressive statement as to its view of South Florida commercial real estate. The firm’s two other Class-A Office investments in the region are 1 East Broward Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale, a 340,000 square-foot building, and 250 Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach with 24,000 square feet.

Following significant refurbishments, Ivy Realty boosted the occupancy in the signature, high-rise Fort Lauderdale office building by over 21 percent, and after recently finishing refurbishments at its Palm Beach property, that property too is quickly escalating in occupancy. After significant downturns in office values in recent years, the trio of Ivy Realty successes point to capital infusions as playing a critical role in turning mediocre properties into prime properties, helping to spur on the South Florida recovery.

“As we sought to expand our investment horizons beyond the Northeast a few years ago,” said Rusty Warren, Co-CEO of Ivy Realty, “we viewed South Florida as on the cusp of recovery, but it lacked investors that could combine conviction and capital. We have the resources to back our vision and are seeing our quality assets returning to positions of prominence in their respective Class-A office markets.”

The firm’s latest success story, Heron Bay Corporate Campus I and II, are preeminent multi-tenant office buildings located within the northwest Broward submarket. Completed in 2001, their modern Mediterranean design incorporates hurricane-resistant features including impact-resistant windows and generator wiring for tenants requiring uninterrupted operations.
The campus is ideally located by the “main-and-main” commercial intersection of the Sawgrass Expressway and Coral Ridge Drive, which serves prestigious communities surrounding including Heron Bay Golf Club, The Hamptons, and Parkland Golf & Country Club, all of which are affluent communities favored by entrepreneurs and corporate decision makers. The Heron campus’ circular driveway stems from the grand entrance of the Marriott Hotel, adding a high level of convenience for visiting executives.

Ivy Realty’s lease-up in the three-story buildings has included adding Pearl Holdings, a Florida-based personal automobile insurer with over 17,000 square feet; Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workspace, which hosts approximately 15,500 square feet of executive suites at the Heron Bay campus; and AOD Software, a long-term care software company providing clinical, operations and financial management solutions to retirement and continuing care communities, which leased approximately 15,300 square feet. These leases are unusually large for the office submarket, which more typically leases spaces of 3,000-5,000 square feet per tenant. Ivy Realty also leased just under 4,000 square feet to Century Link (formerly Qwest Communications), among other new tenants.

Added Anthony DiTommaso, Co-CEO of Ivy Realty, “Heron Bay Corporate Campus appeals to corporate executives for numerous reasons: The location  offers an ideal work-live combination, surrounded by upscale enclaves, golf courses and A-rated schools. It features luxury, modern amenities, and it’s hurricane resistant as well as inland, the latter offering added protection for a business during storm season.”

The buildings, which are located at 11555 and 11575 Heron Bay Boulevard, currently have 12,000 square feet of available space, with footprints allowing for subdivision of tenant spaces into as little as 1,000 square feet. The buildings are Energy-Star efficient, and the exteriors features lush landscaping.

CBRE is handling the leasing of Heron Bay Corporate Campus under the direction of Travis Herring and Deanna Lobinsky

George Sacks Seals 15,500 SF In Exchange Deals

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The Exchange six-building office complex in Fort Lauderdale has closed multiple recent transactions

At the office park located at 3303-3363 West Commercial Boulevard, call center and contact management services provider Talk2Rep has leased 9,228 square feet for its corporate offices, and the law firm of PeytonBolin, PL purchased a 6,240-square-foot office condo suite.  Asset manager and broker George Sacks, managing principal of Commercial Florida Realty Services, represented owner The Exchange of Fort Lauderdale LLC in the transactions.

“As Broward’s office market slowly strengthens, we’re seeing higher demand for small blocks of space in suburban locations,” Sacks said.  “We have activity from professional firms and marketing-related companies that need 10,000 square feet of corporate space or less and are anxious to lock in costs before economic conditions shift,” Sacks said. “They’re keenly aware of the market’s signals, with Broward property values recovering and lease rates starting to increase in some of the county’s Class A complexes.  They know interest rates will inevitably rise.”

The deals at The Exchange, which totals 174,473 square feet, bring the complex to 83 percent occupied.

Companies are running the numbers for lease vs. buy, based on their business models, Sacks said.  Tenants are securing today’s favorable leasing rates, and owner-buyers who anticipate stable space needs are moving quickly on low interest rates and the availability of up to 90 percent Small Business Administration (SBA) financing.

 

New Owners For Cypress Park West

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Stockbridge Cypress Park West LLC, managed by San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group LLC, acquired Cypress Park West I and II at 6700 and 6750 N. Andrews Ave., according to Broward County records. The seller of the two buildings totaling nearly 425,000 square feet is New York-based T-C Cypress Park West LLC.

The transaction closed Sept. 27. Broward County recorded the sale Thursday. No financing was recorded.

Cypress Park West I was built in 1987. The building includes more than 127,000 square feet of Class A office space and a nearly 216,000-square-foot parking garage, according to CoStar Group. The office space is about 67 percent leased to tenants including Seitlin Insurance and Advisory Services and Claims Verification Inc.

The 115,000-square-foot Cypress Park West II was completed in 2003. It is more than 94 percent leased, according to CoStar. Microsoft Corp. occupies about 47,000 square feet. Other tenants include MSC Cruises Inc. and Regus PLC.

Stockbridge in February paid $15.1 million for retail center Palm Lakes Plaza in Margate. Its regional portfolio also includes the Reserve Shopping Center in Boca Raton, an industrial complex at 410 and 420 S. Congress Ave. in Delray Beach and the Lakes at Pembroke apartment community in Pembroke Pines.

Stockbridge is a real estate investment management firm founded 10 years ago, according to its website. The company and its affiliated adviser have about $6.4 billion in real estate assets located throughout the United States.

 

Source: DBR

Spirit Stays Grounded, Signs Broward County’s Largest Office Lease This Year

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Spirit Airlines Inc. has agreed to stay put at the Miramar Park of Commerce, where the company has based its South Florida operations since 1999.

The company announced Friday that it signed a 70,819-square-foot lease renewal at the 2844 and 2854 Corporate Way facility it calls the Spirit Support Center. The discount airline is expanding its presence at the facility by 14,625 square feet of office space. Financial terms of the 10-year lease were not disclosed.

Spirit moved its headquarters from Detroit to Miramar 14 years ago. The low-cost carrier now has more than 1,300 employees in South Florida.

Miramar Park of Commerce was developed by Sunbeam Properties Inc. Sunbeam vice presidents Andrew Ansin and Maridee Bell represented the park in the transaction. Studley Inc. senior managing director Chris Lovell, executive vice president Greg Katz and senior managing director Roy Abernathy represented Spirit.

The transaction is Broward County’s largest office lease in 2013, according to Studley.

“Our team spent over a year evaluating multiple cities and options,” Lovell said in a statement. “We are pleased that the employment and economic opportunities in South Florida and the partnership approach of Miramar Park of Commerce provided such convincing reasons for Spirit’s long-term commitment to this region.”

 

Source: DBR

 

 

Colliers’ Listokin, Casey Broker $4M Lease

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Colliers International South Florida brokers Robert Listokin and Clinton Casey represented landlord State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio in a 51,500-square-foot lease at Quadrant Business Center located at 600 SW 12th Avenue in Deerfield Beach.

The new tenant, Florida Backyard by Fortunoff, will use the space as a warehouse and distribution center for its retail outlets in South Florida.  The lease transaction is valued at $4 million. Florida Backyard was represented by New York-based Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate.

“The I-95 exposure of Quadrant Business Center, its location, and opportunities for expansion drew Florida Backyard to the space,” Listokin said. The family-owned manufacturer of casual furniture and accessories is based in Long Island, New York.

“Florida has always been at the top of our list,” said Bernard Sensale, CEO of the Fortunoff Backyard Store. “Our first retail stores are planned for Stuart, Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens. They will open between September and October of this year.  Florida is a great outdoor market and many people here are from the Northeast and are already familiar with our brand and what we offer. We are receiving merchandise in our Deerfield Beach distribution center now, and we are training new staff and associates with the goal of expanding throughout Florida in the next three to four years. This location on I-95 gives us easy north-south access, and to Florida’s west coast.”