The Pinnacle Corporate Park in Fort Lauderdale has changed hands for $38.1 million.

Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Real Estate Investments sold the 500-550 Northwest 62nd Street business park last week for about $140 per square foot, according to Broward County records. The real estate arm of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance originally developed the 270,000-square-foot complex 27 years ago. It paid $9.47 million for the 14.3-acre site in 1985.

A company managed by New York-based DRA Advisors is the buyer. The DRA-managed company obtained a $27 million loan from Wells Fargo Bank for the acquisition. DRA is a registered investment advisor that specializes in real estate investment and management services for institutional and private investors. The company has $11 billion in assets under management.

An active investor in South Florida real estate, DRA’s regional portfolio includes the Broward Financial Centre in Fort Lauderdale, the 1900-2000 Offices in Boca Raton and Plantation Marketplace in Plantation.

Pinnacle, located within Fort Lauderdale’s dense Cypress Creek office market, is DRA’s most significant South Florida acquisition in more than a year. In October 2012, the company paid $28.5 million for the Polo Club Shoppes in Boca Raton.

Cypress Creek has been a recent target for major office investors based outside of South Florida. In September, San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group paid $33 million for Cypress Park West I and II at 6700 and 6750 North Andrews Avenue. Last Thursday, Stockbridge obtained a $25 million loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank for the acquisition of the two buildings totaling nearly 425,000 square feet.

The broader Cypress Creek office market faces occupancy challenges as 2013 winds down.

Cypress Creek vacancies totaled 25.5 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Its vacancy rate is highest in Broward County by more than five percentage points. Nearly 200,000 square feet at the BankAtlantic Corporate Center was vacated during the first quarter of 2013 as part of BB&T’s acquisition of BankAtlantic.

Source:  The Real Deal