Tag Archive for: morning calm management

Morning Calm Forms $500M JV To Finance Office Properties

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Boca Raton-based Morning Calm Management has launched Morning Calm Office Finance, a $500 million joint venture with a global investment manager with more than $50 billion in assets under management, Morning Calm announced on Monday, April 17.

The joint venture reportedly will focus on providing “high-quality office owners and investors with flexible financing solutions, helping them to navigate the evolving market environment.”

The venture is intended to be one of the first and so far few specialized credit vehicles focused on the office sector, helping to fill what Morning Calm describes as a massive capital void resulting from big and regional banks, life companies and debt funds pulling back on office lending.

MCOF will originate and acquire structured office debt investments, including senior and mezzanine loans, B-notes and preferred equity. It plans to invest across the nation’s top 30 MSAs, focusing on Class A office properties in high-barrier markets supported by strong fundamentals. Loan sizes will range from $25 million to $100 million or more.

“Launching this strategy is an opportunity for us to provide liquidity to a corner of the debt markets for which we have a lot of experience and expertise. Every asset is unique and has its own value drivers, and we seek to identify the properties we believe are positioned for success,” Mukang Cho, CEO & managing principal at Morning Calm Management.

As a long-time office investor, Morning Calm understands the unique challenges the sector is facing and how difficult it is even for the best positioned properties to secure new financing, Cho said in a prepared statement.

Morning Calm asserts that MCOF has a compelling market opportunity, with an estimated $566 billion of office debt maturities projected to be coming due over the next five years. (This figure is based on information from Trepp and the Chicago Fed, according to a Morning Calm spokesperson).

“This wave of maturities will force borrowers to refinance, recapitalize or exit investments,” Morning Calm asserts, “all of which will likely require fresh debt capital at a time when available sources have dwindled.”

Currently, Morning Calm Management owns approximately 10 million square feet of commercial real estate around the country, including more than 4.5 million square feet of office assets.

 

Source:  CPE

 

Broward County Office Park Fetches $29.25 Million

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Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of Lakeshore Business Center, a four-building office park in Broward County’s Cypress Creek submarket.

The Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets team of Mike Davis, Scott O’Donnell, Dominic Montazemi, Greg Miller, Rick Brugge and Michael Lerner represented Boca Raton, FL-based Morning Calm Management in the sale.

Miami-based YMP Real Estate Management, LLC acquired the 237,682-square-foot office park for $29.25 million, which equates to approximately $123 per square foot.

Lakeshore Business Center comprises four, two-story buildings developed between 1986 and 2000. The campus is located on a ±17.0-acre site at 5100 and 5200 NW 33rd Avenue and 3201–3125 West Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

The park’s location midway between Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike — South Florida’s two primary north-south arteries — offers nearly one-quarter mile of prominent frontage along West Commercial Boulevard in the Cypress Creek submarket.

“Cypress Creek is Broward County’s second-largest submarket and continues to be a cost effective option for tenants who are seeking easy access to South Florida’s major thoroughfares and a respite from the Fort Lauderdale CBD’s rapidly rising rents,” explained Davis. “As average asking rents in Fort Lauderdale’s CBD increase, the relative value appeal of Cypress Creek as a cost-effective option for Class A and B office space continues to grow.”

Lakeshore Business Center offers a superior parking ratio (4.0 spaces/1,000 square feet) and has received more than $1.3M in capital improvements in recent years, including high-quality interior finishes; upgrades to roofs, HVAC, lobbies and corridors; and major restroom renovations.

Further improvement and development potential is possible for new ownership. Sixteen percent of Lakeshore Business Center’s total square footage is warehouse space, which could be repurposed to office. The site also offers near-term outparcel development opportunities and the potential for a covered land play, leading to future redevelopment.

Lakeshore Business Center was 79% leased at the time of sale, with leasing velocity increasing dramatically in recent years. Notable tenants include Hair Visions International, ECI Telecom and Kirlin Florida.

 

“Lakeshore Business Center provides YMP with tremendous upside potential through the lease-up of 50,000 square feet of vacant space,” said O’Donnell. “Prior ownership had leased 78,000 square feet of new space plus 58,000 square feet of renewals in the past three years, which made up 44% of the entire submarket’s absorption during that period.”