Avison Young’s South Florida operations announced the largest office building sale transaction in Palm Beach County to date in 2013, overseeing the sale of Beacon Square, a 160,000-square-foot building located at 8051 Congress Avenue in Boca Raton.

Avison Young Principals Keith O’Donnell and Greg Martin, and Associate Jonathan Senn, represented the seller during the transaction. The buyer, SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure across North, Central and South America. The company plans to use the building as their corporate headquarters.

“The Beacon Square building was originally designed for IBM’s exclusive use, however, we carefully planned the building to be flexible and accommodate other users down the road,” said Mr. O’Donnell. “The movement we are seeing from both large and small businesses transitioning from leasing to owning their space is a trend we expect to continue as tax laws change, enhancing the benefits of ownership, and the supply of new space remains limited.”

According to recent market trend reports, office properties in Palm Beach County witnessed a decrease in total vacancy as a result of growth in housing, employment and the economy in 2013. Along with the West Palm Beach submarket, Boca Raton was a contributing factor to the majority of the positive activity in the market this year.

Beacon Square is a four-story, class A office building which features an open layout, highly upgraded finishes, hurricane-resistant windows and a dining facility. Following the sale, SBA will temporarily remain in their current building, as renovation will occur to repurpose the property for SBA’s use and future expansion.

Gregory Katz, Executive Vice President with Studley, represented SBA Communications Corporation.