Tag Archive for: 350 east las olas

Las Olas Abuzz With Activity

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Las Olas Centre has a new owner and the boulevard is getting a new Class A office building.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s (formerly RREEF Real Estate)  real estate investment business snapped up 350 and 450 East Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on behalf of one of its clients.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A victim of the economic meltdown, the two towers faced a $219 million foreclosure in 2009, ironically after signing a series of lease renewals. It was 95% occupied at the time.

“Las Olas Centre is a great addition to our portfolio,” says Todd Henderson, head of Real Estate for the Americas at DeAWM. “We believe Las Olas Centre is the premier office asset in the market with exceptional amenities including its retail tenancy.”

In 2010, the two-building office complex spanning 469,353 square feet in the Las Olas corridor, sold for $170 million. San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Company affiliates US Republic Core Fund and US Premier Office Equities purchased the towers from BF Las Olas, LLC, an entity of Wachovia/Wells Fargo about four years ago.

“Our view is that the buildings’ improvements and central location in the Fort Lauderdale CBD will continue to attract top tier tenants at market leading rents—positioning the property to deliver strong long term returns for our client,” says Henderson. The property offers office and retail space in Fort Lauderdale’s Central Business District.

Las Olas Centre occupies about 3.4 acres and 600 feet of frontage on Las Olas Boulevard. Certified LEED Gold with the U.S. Green Building Council, the project is one of very few options for trophy quality class A office space in a desirable location due to walking distance to shopping, restaurant and entertainment precincts, as well as proximity to airports, highways, and executive housing.

Just a few blocks away, the One West Las Olas office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale got an $8.67 million construction mortgage from Branch Banking & Trust Co.

The bank made the loan to One West LOA LLC, which is managed by attorneys Jeffrey Ostrow and Brian Kopelwitz. They are the managing partners of Kopelowitz Ostrow P.A., which will be the anchor tenant in the 40,000-square-foot “Class A” office building.

Stiles Construction is the general contractor for the project at 13 West Las Olas Blvd., along South Andrews Avenue.

The six-story building will break ground in May.

 

Source:  GlobeSt.

 

 

Stiles’ Managed Office Towers Win Building of the Year Awards

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Three office towers managed by Stiles in the Las Olas corridor of downtown Fort Lauderdale won the Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach.

One tower in particular also placed in the top five percent in the 2011 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National ENERGY STAR® competition – the national mark of excellence in energy performance – by meeting stringent EPA guidelines.

These recognitions are a tribute to the cost-saving sustainability program of Stiles Property Management, the third largest Property Management firm in South Florida. According to Stiles Property Management President Chris Rotolo, Stiles’ sustainability program has shown to reduce operating expenses by approximately ten percent compared to similar buildings.

350 and 450 Las Olas Centre – Owned by USAA Real Estate Company and led by Senior Property Manager Kim Burns, this is the first TOBY this building has won in over ten years. Awarded in the category of Outstanding Buildings between 250,000-499,999 square feet, all facets of a building’s operations are thoroughly evaluated, including site management, sustainable policies and practices and community involvement. Located at 350 and 450 East Las Olas Boulevard, the 18 and 14-story tower buildings, totaling 259,607 square feet and 209,746 square feet, respectively, share street-level retail and parking space on prestigious Las Olas Boulevard. The combined property is leased primarily to office tenants that include Huizenga Holdings, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

In addition to the TOBY award, the 350 Las Olas Centre tower placed ninth out of 245 entrants in the 2011 National EPA ENERGY STAR® competition. The building reduced its energy usage by 19 percent over the course of the six-month competition from April 2011 to September 2011. ENERGY STAR was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.  In an effort to reduce that building’s energy use Stiles implemented a computer-operated energy management system, electricity-reducing technologies and lighting retro-fits.

The AutoNation Building – A tribute to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification it attained in early 2011, this building was awarded the coveted Earth Award by BOMA for meeting the criteria mentioned above along with an additional emphasis on sustainable policies and practices. The judges consider specific environmental policies including but not limited to recycling, energy and water conservation, indoor air quality and green cleaning, as well as emergency response and tenant education. Located at 200 Southwest 1st Avenue, The AutoNation Building is the headquarters of auto retailing giant, AutoNation. It is a 17-story mixed-use Class A office building with more than 17,000 square feet of ground-level retail shops near Las Olas Riverfront and six levels of parking.

Achieving the Earth Award and placing top ten in the 2011 National Energy Star competition is the latest step in Stiles’ companywide commitment to investing, building and managing sustainable properties.  As one of the first property management firms in Florida to implement a fully-integrated sustainability program, Stiles maintains an extraordinary roster of 18 LEED projects ranging from new construction to existing building certifications. The company’s former headquarters building in downtown Fort Lauderdale—300 Las Olas Place—is Florida’s first existing multi-tenant office building to receive Gold-level LEED-EB certification.  In addition, Stiles developed, leases and manages Lake Shore Plaza II, Broward’s first multi-tenant office building to be Silver LEED certified.