Tag Archive for: amy julian

Chicago Firm Picks Up West Palm Office Building

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Chicago-based Bradford Allen Investment Advisors has made its second splash in the South Florida office market with its purchase of One Clearlake Centre office tower from Rockpoint Group for $45 million, according to property records provided by Vizzda.

The company intends to invest an additional $10 million into refurbishing the property, which currently has a 62% occupancy rate, as part of a value-add strategy.

The 221,000-square-foot building was purchased in 2021 for $60.7 million by Rockpoint Group in partnership with Tricera Capital, NDT Development, and New England Development. Despite efforts, occupancy has remained stagnant, resulting in a nearly 26% loss on the recent sale.

Built in 1986 and located at 250 South Australian Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach, the building will receive a new roof, updated elevators, a renovated fitness and conference center, a tenant lounge, and food service upgrades. Bradford Allen also plans to introduce four move-in-ready spec suites in 2025.

Current tenants include Truist Bank, Ideal Nutrition, and Robert Half.

The leasing for the building will be managed by Tower Commercial Real Estate, led by Jon Blunk and Laurel Oswald.

While One Clearlake has struggled, newer properties like One Flagler — opened in February and 95% leased — reflect strong demand for modern office space. According to CBRE, Class A office buildings in the West Palm Beach central business district have a low direct vacancy rate of 2.8%.

“There is significant potential in repositioning One Clearlake,” said Blunk. “Like other urban cores, downtown West Palm Beach is seeing strong demand for premium office space as top-tier companies move in.”

Earlier this year, Bradford Allen made its entry into South Florida with a $208 million purchase of Las Olas Centre I and II in Fort Lauderdale, the city’s largest office sale in nearly ten years. That building was 69% occupied, and the firm plans a $25 million renovation.

CBRE’s Sean Kelly, Amy Julian, Andrew Chilgren, Tom Rappa, and Mathew Lee represented the seller in the transaction.

 

Source:  Bisnow

Class AA Office Tower Trades Hands In Broward’s Second $200M+ Transaction In Two Days

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On Thursday, CRE-sources reported the $208 million trade of 350/450 East Las Olas, the largest transaction in a decade… until Friday.

On Friday, Lone Star Funds announced that an affiliate of Lone Star Real Estate Fund VII, L.P., along with an affiliate of Highline Real Estate Capital LLC and Square2 Capital LLC, has acquired 401 East Las Olas Boulevard, marking the most significant office acquisition in Broward County in the past decade.

CBRE’s Institutional Office Group, led by Vice Chairman Christian Lee and Vice President Sean Kelly, represented the seller, a global investment manager. CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance Group, led by Vice Chairmen Tom Traynor and Tom Rugg, Senior Vice President Amy Julian, and First Vice President Andrew Chilgren, represented the buyer in sourcing acquisition financing. The CBRE team also included Director Adam Spengler, Senior Associate Tom Rappa, Associate Henry Fenmore, and Financial Analyst Matthew Lee.

“Office properties in Fort Lauderdale’s CBD have thrived in the 2020’s, with strong absorption, sharp rent growth and declining vacancies. This is particularly true for top tier assets, which have outperformed because of an escalating flight to quality,” said Lee.

 

“With soaring construction costs and a dearth of remaining development sites in the Las Olas corridor, future supply will be tightly constrained and will result in continued strong rent growth for the area,” added Kelly.

The transaction closed February 13. While the terms were not disclosed, sources close to the deal reported the sale price to be in the neighborhood of $220 million, equating to more than $535 per square foot.

The 23-story, 410,561-square-foot Class AA office and retail tower—also known as Bank of America Plaza at Las Olas City Centre—sits on a full city block in the heart of Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Financial District. The property is home to a premier tenant roster, including Bank of America, Greenberg Traurig, Boies Schiller Flexner, Motorola Solutions, and UBS.

“We see a unique opportunity to invest in high-quality office assets that are among the best in their competitive set,” said Jérôme Foulon, Global Head of Commercial Real Estate at Lone Star. “The South Florida office market has strong underlying fundamentals, driven in part by in-migration trends and return-to-work mandates. At the same time, since new developments have all but stopped in recent years, some markets are experiencing shortages of office space in quality assets.”

 

“This acquisition represents our confidence in high-quality, well-located office assets that continue to demonstrate strong leasing fundamentals,” said David Moret, President of Highline Real Estate Capital. “401 has maintained an average occupancy of 94 percent since its inception and is positioned to continue to benefit from the evolving office market.”

 

Jay Caplin, Principal at Square2 Capital, added “with our previous repositioning success at 501 & 515 Las Olas Boulevard, we are confident we can amplify 401’s position as one of the most sought-after office towers in the state. Planned improvements will build upon 401’s status as the most amenitized office property in downtown Fort Lauderdale, featuring six on-site restaurants, a fitness center, and full-service banking.” Square2 Capital will manage the property for the new owner under the direction of Principal Mike Manno.

 

CBRE Capital Markets Secures $30.2 Million Financing Broward Office Building

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CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt & Structured Finance Group has successfully secured a $30.2 million bank balance sheet loan to finance Cornerstone One, a premier Class A office property in Plantation.

The transaction was facilitated by CBRE’s Senior Vice President Amy Julian and First Vice President Andrew Chilgren.

Situated in the Midtown Plantation Development District, Cornerstone One benefits from the recent addition of over 3,900 multifamily apartments and 350,000 square feet of new retail space. Its strategic location at the intersection of key Broward County roadways offers exceptional transportation access, making it an attractive destination for tenants.

“Cornerstone One’s prime location and exceptional asset quality have enabled the property to execute nearly 90,000 square feet of leasing in the past two years,” said Julian.

This strong leasing momentum precedes the Owner’s planned renovations, which include a lobby overhaul, move-in ready spec suites, as well as upgrades to the outdoor patios.

“The ongoing renovations will reinforce Cornerstone One’s position as one of the leading suburban office properties in South Florida,” added Chilgren.

CBRE Arranges Sale, Financing Of Boca Office Building

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CBRE Capital Markets has facilitated the $20 million sale of Boca Corporate Center, a four-story, 93,219-square-foot boutique office building located at 2101 NW Corporate Boulevard in Boca Raton.

The buyer, Larsen MacColl Partners, is a Pennsylvania- and Florida-based real estate investment firm with a focus on commercial properties in affluent, dense suburban markets and with primarily professional service tenants. Boston-based Spaulding and Slye Investments, with over 50 years of experience investing in the U.S., provided asset management services on behalf of the seller.

Exclusively representing the seller, the sale was facilitated by the CBRE’s Office Investment Sales team, led by Vice Chairman Christian Lee, Vice President Sean Kelly, Senior Associate Tom Rappa, and Financial Analyst Matthew Lee. CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance team, led by Senior Vice President Amy Julian and First Vice Present Andrew Chilgren, secured a $14 million loan with Deutsche Bank on behalf of the buyer.

“The property’s location within the Midtown Boca micromarket provides immediate access to the City’s top retail destinations as well as I-95 and the Turnpike,” said Lee.

 

“The boutique nature of the property appeals to the smaller tenants that frequent the Boca submarket,” added Kelly.

Boca Corporate Center features recently renovated lobby and common areas, highly efficient floor plates, and walkable amenities. There is significant upside through marking the in-place rents up to today’s higher market rents.

“Boca Corporate Center’s strong occupancy history, in-place income and future upside provided abundant confidence on the future success of the asset throughout the lending community,” said Chilgren.

 

CBRE Secures $96M Refinancing West Palm Office Tower

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CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt & Structured Finance group secured a $96 million loan for the refinancing of Northbridge Centre, a 294,493-square-foot office tower in South Florida.

CBRE Senior Vice President Amy Julian and First Vice President Andrew Chilgren represented the borrower, a joint-venture that includes Vanderbilt Office Properties and Trinity Capital Advisors. BMO originated the loan.

Northbridge Centre is located at 515 N. Flagler in West Palm Beach. Currently, the property is 92% leased to a diverse roster of 48 tenants.

The investment group has meticulously maintained and renovated the 21-story office building with over $18 million of recent capital investment including multi-tenant floor renovations, speculative suite buildouts, elevator and lobby renovations, and exterior upgrades. These projects have repositioned the asset into a top office destination for tenants in South Florida.

“The current ownership has been tremendously successful at Northbridge Centre,” said Julian. “They have executed 88,000 square feet of leases since the start of 2022, which has driven rents up by 46% since acquiring the property in 2019.”

Northbridge Centre features panoramic water views of the intracostal waterway, the Atlantic Ocean, and Clear Lake as well as spectacular views of Palm Beach Island and the West Palm Beach skyline. Additionally, the property offers tenants three on-site dining venues, rooftop amenity deck, full-service banking, executive valet parking with direct building access, a Paul James salon, a fitness center with extensive programming, and a state-of-the-art conference facility.

“New-to-market leasing activity has led to West Palm Beach emerging as one of the nation’s top performing submarkets,” added Chilgren. “Since the end of 2020, Class A vacancy has dropped 900 basis points to just 9.8%, while rents have simultaneously increased by more than 50%.”

 

Office Complex On Las Olas Boulevard Sells For $144.5M

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CBRE has facilitated the sale of Las Olas Square on behalf of a joint venture between funds managed by Apollo Global Management, SQUARE2 Capital, and Steelbridge Capital.

Las Olas Square is a two-building, 267,000-square-foot mixed-use property located on a full city block at the Main & Main intersection of the Las Olas office and retail district in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The joint venture purchased the property and excess development land in 2016 for $90 million and executed an extensive redevelopment and re-tenanting of this iconic Ft. Lauderdale asset whose tenants includes Truist Bank, Spaces, and Del Frisco’s Grill. It also had previously sold the excess development land to a national developer for $20 million, who is currently building a 50-story residential tower on the site.

The sellers were exclusively represented by Christian Lee and Andrew Chilgren with CBRE Capital Markets. Amy Julian with CBRE Debt & Structured Finance arranged financing on behalf of the buyer, a joint venture between CP Group and Related Fund Management. A fund managed by Alliance Bernstein provided the floating rate loan.

Las Olas Square includes a 17-story office tower located at 515 E. Las Olas Blvd. (515 Building), a three-story building located at 501 E. Las Olas Blvd. (501 Building), and an attached four-story parking structure. It is 88 percent leased to 17 tenants across a variety of industries, including banking, legal services, real estate, accounting, and financial services.

“The sellers returned the property to its rightful, iconic state through a multimillion-dollar, transformative renovation that activated the entire 500 block of Las Olas Boulevard. In conjunction with interior building enhancements, the addition of an outdoor tenant plaza has drastically improved the property’s curb appeal and desirability, which has attracted a high-quality and diversified tenant roster,” said Lee, CBRE Vice Chairman.