Tag Archive for: nai merin hunter codman

The Forum Office Buildings Trade In $22.5 Million Deal

/in , /by

CBRE arranged the sale of The Forum in West Palm Beach.

The 185,089 sq.ft. property, consisting of two multi-tenant office buildings and a four-story structured parking garage, is located at 1665 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.

A subsidiary of Triarch Capital Group acquired the property for $22.5 million.

CBRE’s Miami-based Capital Markets team facilitated the sale on behalf of the seller, Crimson Peak and Panther Capital Management. Vice Chairman Christian Lee oversaw the transaction alongside Senior Vice President José Lobón and Vice President Amy Julian. The Capital Markets team representing the seller also included Financial Analysts Marcos Minaya and Joseph Chick.

Neil Merin of NAI/Merin Hunter Codman and Jonathan Kingsley of Colliers also worked on the transaction.

“The Forum features unparalleled connectivity to Interstate 95, great access to West Palm Beach’s major transportation hubs, the highest covered parking ratio among its peers and an unrivaled amenity base that includes an on-site hotel that will become the winter home to the Houston Astros,” said Christian Lee, vice chairman, CBRE Capital Markets.

Located a half mile east of Interstate 95, the property offers tremendous transportation dynamics–over half of South Florida’s 6 million residents live within a one-hour drive from the property. Additionally, the property is adjacent to the Palm Beach Outlet mall.

“The West Palm Beach submarket has seen five straight years of positive net absorption resulting in a 670-basis point decline in vacancy and 18% market rent growth,” commented José Lobón, Senior Vice President, CBRE Capital Markets. “Combined with a lack of any new office construction underway in the submarket, the outlook is positive for further vacancy decline and market rent growth.”

 

Boca Raton Office Complex Has New Owner

/in , /by

Fountain Square, a 241,000-square-foot office complex in Boca Raton, traded for $54.5 million — a 47 percent increase over what it sold for three years ago.

Bridge Investment Group Partners of Sandy, UT bought the three-building development at 2600, 2650 and 2700 N. Military Trail from a joint venture between affiliates of Contrarian Capital Management LLC of Greenwich, CT, and NAI/Merin Hunter Codman in West Palm Beach.

The sellers bought the property for $37 million in 2014 from JP Morgan, which paid $63.5 million in 2007.

NAI launched a multimillion dollar capital improvement program to upgrade common areas and tenant suites. That resulted in more than 100,000 square feet of leases in the past two years and boosted occupancy from 62 percent to 90 percent.

The owners filled the building by negotiating leases for $15 and $16 per square foot, according to Neil Merin, chairman of NAI Merin Hunter Codman. He said rents today are in the range of $22 to $23 per square foot.

“It’s a real marker for the recovery of values in Florida,” Merin told CoStar News. “We did well — no doubt about it.”

 

Gil Tenzer, portfolio manager and director of real estate investments at Contrarian, said, “Fountain Square represents our commitment to partnering with local operators to invest in and turn around under-performing assets with high potential.”

Christian Lee and Jose Lobon of CBRE and Neil Merin, of NAI Merin Hunter Codman, represented the seller. The buyer did not have representation.

 

Source:  CoStar

Taylor & Mathis Inks 65,000 SF At Phillips Point

/in , /by

Phillips Point continues to enjoy a historically high occupancy rate with $46.5 million in recent leasing transactions.

Taylor & Mathis Principal Brian Gale has secured four leases totaling 65,600 square feet, with additional deals in the works.

In a new to market deal, Connecticut based Wexford Capital signed a 7,400 lease.  The $4.5 million deal was co-brokered by Neil Merin and Shelbi Quinn of NAI/Merin Hunter Codman. The towers have received strong interest from Northeast based hedge fund and wealth management firms like Wexford. “These types of firms are choosing South Florida because of lower taxes and beautiful weather,” said Taylor & Mathis Principal Brian Gale.

ESPN radio West Palm office of Good Karma Brands will be relocating to Phillips Point Tower, having signed a one million dollar lease for 4,635 square feet. “Phillips Point continues to attract the highest quality tenants in the market, with its unparalleled views and quality of ownership,” said Gale.

The key testament to Phillips Point’s iconic stature in the market is the tenants choosing to stay at the property. In the last couple of years, Taylor & Mathis has reported nearly 150,000 square feet in renewals and expansions, with heavy weight tenants, such as Gunster and Morgan Stanley.  This year has seen two notable renewals.  International law firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLP signed an early renewal for an additional 13 years at the property, signing a 30,254 square foot lease for their West Palm Beach office.  Co-broker Jon Bourbeau of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the law firm in the deal valued at $23 million.

AMG Properties has more than doubled the size of their offices signing a 12,805 square foot expansion along with a 10,518 square foot renewal.  Co-broker Darren Goldstein of Virtual Global Realty represented the real estate management firm in the 23,323 square foot, $18 million deal. “We anticipate seeing additional growth from them yet this year,” stated Gale.

“These tenants conducted extensive due diligence during their search for office space before signing leases at Phillips Point,” stated Gale.

The building is home to internationally recognized tenants including, Gunster, Squire Sanders, Goldman Sachs and Akerman.

 

It’s Time For Musical Chairs!

/in /by

Round and round they go, where they’ll stop, well…we think WE know.

Seems to be the season for the first round of the year of Broker Musical Chairs, and we have quite a list of players.

Jonathan Guffey

Jonathan Guffey

Jonathan Guffey has been named Director of Leasing at Liberty Property Trust , effective January 1st.  Guffey previously served as Commercial Sales Associate at Jones Lang LaSalle, assisting Alice Lucia and Peter Sheridan since September, 2011.

Bill Kahn

Bill Kahn

In addition to Jonathan’s new role, it looks like NAI Merin Hunter Codman will be filling another seat.  Bill Kahn has parted ways with Butters and is now serving as Director of Leasing with MHC.  Kahn has been serving the South Florida commercial real estate market for over two decades. He held the position of Senior Vice President for Butters Realty and Management where his focus included tenant representation. Prior to joining Butters, Mr. Kahn held executive level positions dealing with distressed assets/dispositions and national tenant representation, for such prestigious firms as MassMutual and Equis.

Steve O'Hara

Steve O’Hara

The seat at NAI Merin Hunter Codman was vacated by Steve O’Hara, who is now affiliated with Mohr Partners, Inc.  According to its website, Mohr Partners, Inc. is one of the largest, exclusive tenant-only real estate advisory firms in the U.S. providing corporate services globally. Steve served as a managing director with NAI Merin Hunter Codman since April, 2010 after 10 years as first vice president with CBRE.  At MHC, Steve spearheaded the continuing expansion of the company’s efforts in regards to office and industrial landlord services.

Spencer Grossman Named NAI/Merin Hunter Codman’s Broker of the Year

/in /by

NAI/Merin Hunter Codman, Inc., announced that Spencer Grossman, Senior Commercial Associate at NAI/Merin Hunter Codman, has been named the firm’s Broker of the Year.

Grossman closed a plethora of noteworthy commercial property transactions in Palm Beach County, helping to continue the firm’s stretch as the county’s top ranked commercial property brokerage firm. Grossman’s high production included several alternative uses for distressed assets, providing renewed optimism that imaginative solutions will help clear the backlog of properties on the market.

Grossman continues the strong precedent set by his father, Jay M. Grossman, who helped found NAI/Merin Hunter Codman with Neil E. Merin more than 20 years ago and grew it into one of the most respected commercial property brokerage firms in the state.

“Spencer Grossman came up with creative solutions that allowed him to close numerous challenging deals over the past year,” said Jordan C. Paul, Chief Executive Officer of NAI/Merin Hunter Codman. “Spencer’s ability to understand both market dynamics and the key financial drivers that create value enabled him to come up with unique ideas that maximized value for our clients.”

In one of the innovative transactions orchestrated by Grossman, he arranged the sale of a large, 50,000 square-foot furniture showroom to a charter school. Mavericks High, a statewide charter school consortium headed by Francis Biden, the brother of the United States Vice President, took over the property once occupied by Carl’s Furniture at 1889 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach. Grossman also arranged the sale of The Habitat Center, a 62,000 square-foot retail/office center at 4047 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach to an affiliate of the Schumacher Auto Group. Furthermore, he arranged the sale of an office building whose anchor tenant became a diagnostic imaging center, in yet another innovative transaction. Grossman was also instrumental in relocating the iconic Palm Beach restaurant Hamburger Heaven to a new location on the waterfront in West Palm Beach.

Spencer Grossman, who joined NAI/Merin Hunter Codman in 2010, is optimistic about the future of commercial real estate in South Florida. “The risk appetite of commercial property investors and users is returning,” said Grossman. “The opportunistic ‘first movers’ that often lead market recoveries are recognizing the value to be gained with South Florida real estate. The economy improving, together with a lack of developable land, has led to momentum in the residential property sector. Retail is close on its heels with an office recovery expected to follow suit.”

Grossman noted that the attractive pricing of distressed assets — often acquired in default by financial institutions — has allowed new owners/tenants the wherewithal to bear lower occupancies than usual while waiting on a further market recovery. He expects to announce a large retail property sale in Palm Beach County this quarter with more to follow in adjacent counties.

Todd Everett Parts Ways With NAI/Merin Hunter Codman

/in /by

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has hired C. Todd Everett as a senior associate in the Fort Lauderdale office, according to Gregory Matus, vice president and regional manager of the office.

In his new position, Everett focuses on the sale of office and industrial properties throughout South Florida. He also holds the title of director of the firm’s National Office and Industrial Properties Group (NOIPG).

“Todd’s in-depth knowledge of the office and industrial investment sales market makes him a tremendous asset to our clients and our firm,’ says Matus. “ His thorough understanding of acquisitions and dispositions, tenant and landlord representation, lease and contract negotiation and market research and financial analysis gives Todd a unique perspective on the sale of office and industrial properties.”

“I am excited to be part of a dominant team in the South Florida market where I can align and leverage my experience and skill set with an unparalleled network and platform to better serve my clients,” says Everett.

Everett began his career in the South Florida market in 1995 with CBRE and has more than 20 years of transactional experience representing institutional and private clients in the sale and leasing of office and industrial properties. He has completed transactions totaling more than $300 million and earned the prestigious designation of SIOR in 2004. Before joining Marcus & Millichap, Everett was a top-producing broker for NAI/Merin Hunter Codman Inc., where he served as Managing Director since 

Everett currently serves on the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) South Florida Chapter’s board of directors. He is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtor’s (SIOR) National Digital and Media Communications Committee and is co-chair of the Social Media Subcommittee. Everett is also the co-founder and an executive committee member of the Alliance of Corporate Real Estate Executives and Specialists (ACRES), a local networking group and think tank comprised of senior level real estate executives, investors and transaction specialists.

Everett received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont.