Tag Archive for: brenner

SFOBA December Recap and January Preview

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In preparation for the 2015 SFOBA kickoff meeting Thursday January 15 at noon, hosted by Steelbridge Capital and Jones Lang LaSalle at Cypress Financial Center 5900 Andrews Avenue, here is our December recap and January preview. I also tried to include some of my own “borderline insightful” market commentary.

Thursday, December 11 marked the final meeting of the South Florida Office Brokers Association for it for 2014. The meeting was hosted by Donna Korn of Taylor and Mathis, agent for Brookdale Group, owners of a five-building portfolio totaling over 400,000 square feet of Class-A Office space in Sawgass International Corporate Park. The meeting was held at Brookdale’s International Place.

Our first speaker was Eric Messer, Research Manager for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Eric gave us a brief synopsis of the overall state of the office market. The news was very bright for the market as 2014 is shaping up to be the best year since 2005.

Approximately 685,000 sq. ft. of office space was absorbed in 2014 in Broward County, reducing vacancy rates from 15.0% to the current 13.4%. An interesting observation was that the Class B market was unusually strong, which according to Eric is the result of tenants being priced out of the Class-A market. This assertion was further supported by our panel discussion.

The December meeting featured a panel discussion featuring three top brokers in the market..The panel consisted of Scott O’Donnell, a CBRE investment broker specializing in private equity investments, Caroline Fleischer, a tenant representation specialist at Cushman and Wakefield and Chris Gallagher, a leasing specialist for Duke Realty. The panel was moderated by Paul Marko, President of Stiles Realty.

According to Scott, we are in the third strong year of a robust investment cycle. We are seeing a new layer of foreign investment as the market’s strong demographics are attracting funds from Latin and Asian sources. It does seem however, that many domestic investors are being priced out of the market due to the demand from these offshore sources.

Caroline discussed the vibrant CBD market in Fort Lauderdale. Properties along Las Olas Boulevard have seen net rent increases of $5-$10 per square foot over the past 12 months. Downtown tenants are urged to jump on leasing opportunities as spaces are disappearing rapidly and rents continue to increase. Chris Gallagher concurred with Caroline’s assertions, saying that he felt bad coming up with higher rates and fewer concessions in his Weston and Plantation properties. He felt like he was taking the first born from brokers with whom he had grown up in the business. But that is where the market is today.

This led to the inevitable question of whether the market is right for new development. According to Gallagher, Duke has recently signed 100,000 sq. ft. of leases in Weston and he could use a new building to lease. Caroline believes that we are 12 months away from needing new space in Fort Lauderdale CBD. But here’s the interesting piece that will have a major impact on the near term future of the office market. Residential developers will pay three times what office developers will pay for sites. With this price difference, as well as the pre-leasing requirements demanded by lenders, new office development may very well lag behind demand. Therefore, we can expect a trend of increasing rental rates and declining vacancies over the foreseeable future.

Other key trends in the market discussed by the panel included the trend toward urbanism. Fort Lauderdale has seen increasing residential development in the downtown core and the upcoming wave streetcar project will soon provide a mass transportation alternative. With millennials expressing a preference to live and work in an urban environment, the CBD should remain red hot. The panel and our host Donna Korn also pointed out the strength of the West Broward market which has been enhanced by the completion of the new express lanes on I-595 that are reducing travel times for commuters. In addition new mixed use projects such as Metropica will continue to draw residents to the western submarkets.

Our kickoff meeting for 2015 will be held at Cypress Financial Center in Fort Lauderdale’s uptown market and will be hosted by Sandra Andersen and Chase Kulp of Jones Lang LaSalle. Our guest speaker will be discussing All Aboard Florida, the proposed high-speed rail system that will be connecting our state’s major markets.

Stay tuned to the SFOBA blog as we continue to keep you updated on trends in The South Florida office market. And special thanks to Joanne Diaz and Ted Harris who do such a great job in creating programs to keep South Florida’s office brokers connected and informed.

Brenner Real Estate Group Promotes Adam Starr

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Adam C. Starr has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President – Commercial Brokerage for Brenner Real Estate Group.

Over the course of two tenures with Brenner, Mr. Starr has been with the firm 13 of the last 15 years, most recently serving as Vice President of Commercial Brokerage since August, 2005.  Prior to that, he served as a Senior Associate with Trammell Crow Company for two years.

Adam Starr has handled the marketing and leasing of over 4,500,000 square feet of office and industrial buildings within South Florida, and has grown his tenant representation practice, specializing in the representation of law and financial service firms.  Additionally, Starr manages purchase and sale transactions of office, retail and industrial buildings for both buyers and sellers. He has consistently been one of the top producers for the firm, earning multiple CoStar Power Broker awards during his 15 year career in commercial real estate.

Starr has previously served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), and served as co-chair of the Annual NAIOP Broward County Bus Tour, and is an active member of the South Florida Office Brokers Association (SFOBA).

He is a resident of Boca Raton.

Brenner Tapped To Lease, Manage West Palm Office Building

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Brenner Real Estate Group’s Roxanna Collins, RPA, Regional Asset Manager, and Wendy Collins, Property Manager/Leasing Agent, have been selected to provide leasing and property management services for Courthouse Commons, a 93,000 SF Class “A” office building at 444 West Railroad Avenue in West Palm Beach.

The duo is representing the building for lease on behalf of Great Florida Bank, the property owner.

Courthouse Commons is located at the intersection of Quadrille Avenue and 3rd Street just two miles east of I-95. It is minutes from Palm Beach International Airport, and is walking distance from Clematis Street and City Place.

Courthouse Commons was built in 2007, and its four floors are currently 52% occupied with notable tenants including US Legal Services, Inc. and Burlington & Rockenback, P.A.  A full floor lease of 23,482 SF is available. The building has an attached five-story parking garage and features a 5.0.

According to Roxanna Collins, the property is appropriate for professional service firms, particularly attorneys due to its direct access to the West Palm Beach County Courthouse through a covered pedestrian skywalk. The building also offers opportunity for a bank branch with three drive-thru lanes.

Brenner Team Relocates 26,000 SF Tenant

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Brenner Real Estate Group’s Kathleen Alberts, CCIM, Senior Vice President, Brokerage, Helen Weissman, CCIM, Commercial Associate, and Suzanne Lopez, Commercial Associate, represented Transportation Consultants of America d/b/a Quality Transportation in a 26,419 square foot office lease.

In a relo from Pompano Beach, the courier and delivery services company has set up shop within Quiet Waters Business Park, at 730 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach.

The landlord, Quiet Waters Business Park, LLC was represented by co-broker Tony Hoover of CBRE.

Brenner’s Carla Casey Earns RPA® Designation

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Carla F. Casey, Regional Manager, Property Management, has earned the Real Property Administrator® designation from BOMI International, an independent educational institute serving the property and facility industries.

Ms. Casey joined Brenner Real Estate Group in 1998. She is located in Brenner’s Melbourne office and oversees Brenner’s South Florida and Space Coast property management portfolios, including administration and management of properties, construction management, budget preparation, leasing and land sales. Ms. Casey has handled the property management and construction management for many receivership accounts including Ocean Dunes in Melbourne Beach, FL, America’s Best Value Inn in Vero Beach, FL, and the Fort Pierce Inlet Marina.

Ms. Casey has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Bowling Green State University, and has a professional background including residential property management, community association management and other commercial property management.

Reese Stigliano Appointed Exclusive Agent For Multifamily Project

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Reese Stigliano, Senior Vice President of Brenner Real Estate Group, has been selected as the exclusive agent for the sale of Villas de Mallorca, a 252-unit multifamily apartment project located in Miramar, Florida.

Stigliano will be joint marketing the property with the Tax Credit Group of Marcus & Millichap, a national real estate brokerage company.

The property, built in 2002, is a Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) project. The LIHTC program is an indirect Federal subsidy used to finance the development of affordable rental housing for low-income households. The property consists of 252, two and three bedroom apartments in sixteen (16) three story “Garden Style” buildings situated on 14 acres of land. Current occupancy is 100%.

When asked about the joint marketing arrangement with Marcus & Millichap, Stigliano said, “The tax credit affordable housing market is a highly specialized type of real estate investment. There are federal and state compliance issues regarding tenant income restrictions and rental rates caps that are unique to this type of development.  The buyer of tax-credit, affordable housing projects are highly sophisticated and tend to focus specifically on this type of product.  While I bring 30 years experience in South Florida real estate to the table, the Tax Credit Group of Marcus & Millichap, which is located in Seattle, Washington, have their finger on the pulse of the limited scope buyer of these LIHTC projects.”

Reese went on to say,”This is a very unique arrangement for me. It is the first time I co-listed a property with a national brokerage company. By nature, real estate is local. Extensive market knowledge and personal relationships is how I’ve been able to succeed in this business for three decades. I’ve known the owner of this property for over 15 years.  And although, I felt comfortable marketing the property, I thought it was in the best interest of my client to expose the property to the broadest range of buyers possible in order to achieve the highest sale price.”

According to Elliot Stone, president of The Royal Castle Companies, the developer and owner of the property, “I end up with the best of both worlds, a loyal and trusted advisor who has extensive knowledge of the local market with Reese Stigliano and the exposure I need for this specific project from a national broker. “  “Now all they have to do is sell it!” said Mr. Stone.

The asking price is $25 million.