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Law Firm Shutts & Bowen To Relocate Fort Lauderdale Office

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CBRE has arranged a 10,950-square-foot office lease at The Main Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, on behalf of Shutts & Bowen LLP, a Florida-based AM Law 200 law firm with offices throughout Florida.

Zach Wendelin, Kevin Probel and Kevin McCarthy with CBRE represented the tenant, Shutts & Bowen LLP, in lease negotiations. The landlord is LOC3 Investors LLC.

In early 2023, Shutts & Bowen will relocate more than 30 employees to the 22nd floor of the building.

“We are thrilled with this new office space and are actively engaged in a design process to build a great working space for our attorneys and staff,” said Joseph M. Goldstein, Shutts & Bowen’s Fort Lauderdale Managing Partner. “Shutts & Bowen believes in Fort Lauderdale and this amazing location at the Main Las Olas will help us grow and continue to thrive here.”

 

Shutts & Bowen Partner Arthur J. Menor added, “This best-in-class building will not only accommodate our dynamic, growing presence in the Fort Lauderdale market, but will also allow us to implement a state-of-the-art office design that we can refine and replicate in our other offices as our lease terms roll over the next few years. It was a pleasure working with CBRE to make this happen.”

Located at 201 E. Las Olas Blvd., The Main Las Olas is a 25-story Class A mixed-used building totaling 1.4 million square feet. Property amenities include a conference center, tenant lounge, amenity deck, covered terrace, and state-of-the-art fitness center.

“Positioned in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, The Main provides an ideal live-work-play location for employers like Shutts & Bowen who were looking to upgrade their office environment to help attract and retain top tier talent,” said Probel.

 

CBRE Facilitates 26,000 SF Office Lease Renewal, Expansion For Quest Workspaces

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CBRE has arranged a 25,947-square-foot office lease at Northbridge Centre in West Palm Beach for Quest Workspaces, Miami’s third largest coworking operator.

Kevin Probel and Kevin McCarthy represented the landlords, Vanderbilt Office Properties and C-III Capital Partners, in lease negotiations. Lance Benson with Newmark represented Quest Workspaces.

Quest currently occupies 12,783 square feet on the third floor and will take an additional 13,164 square feet on the fourth floor, which they will occupy in October.

Today, Quest operates nine locations in Florida. Their Northbridge location has more than 170 clients with a notable client base, including Humana, Bravado Health, and Third Federal.

“Quest is excited to cement their long-term tenancy at Northbridge. Strategically located in the heart of downtown West Palm, Northbridge is at the footsteps of the island of Palm Beach, walking distance to hundreds of shops and restaurants, and offers spectacular views,” said Benson.

Located at 515 N. Flagler Drive, Northbridge Centre is a 21-story office tower totaling 294,493 square feet. The property features an attached parking garage with a climate controlled covered sky bridge, restaurants, full-service banking with ATM service, Paul James Salon and full-service NB Fitness Center.

“As office leasing activity continues to increase, tenants will favor properties such as Northbridge Centre, which have received millions of dollars in renovations to provide prime Class A space in Downtown West Palm Beach,” commented CBRE First Vice President Kevin Probel.

Northbridge Centre sits across the street from the Palm Beach Yacht Club and minutes from the Bright Line Station. It is two blocks from Flagler Banyan Square, a $145 million redevelopment project in downtown West Palm Beach.

 

JV Purchases 100,525 SF Office Building In West Palm Beach For $32.5 Million

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A joint venture between affiliates of West Palm Beach-based MHCommercial Real Estate Fund II (“MHCREF”), a discretionary real estate private equity fund formed by NAI/Merin Hunter Codman principals Dung Lam, Neil E. Merin and Jordan Paul, and Waterfall Asset Management (“Waterfall”), a New York-based SEC-registered institutional asset manager with approximately $9.8 billion in assets including committed capital under management, has closed on the $32.5 million purchase of the fee simple interest in EcoPlex®, a 100,525-square-foot office building located at 1641 Worthington Road in West Palm Beach.

Built in 2008, EcoPlex® is 87 percent leased to a diversified tenant roster with five or more years of weighted average lease term. EcoPlex® was the first speculative office building in West Palm Beach and only the second in South Florida to achieve the LEED® Gold Certification. It is designed to withstand winds of a Category 4 hurricane and is equipped with three generators with integrated, above ground diesel fuel tanks, and rainwater recycling system. The four-story property also features a fitness center with showers and lockers, a lush outdoor plaza, an attached five-story parking structure, and fiber optic service. EcoPlex® rewards businesses with a healthier workplace, maximum energy efficiency, minimal environmental impact, significant cost savings, and increased productivity.

EcoPlex® is located in the Centrepark Office District, a 69-acre mixed-use project strategically located just off Australian Avenue across from Drive Shack and directly adjacent to the Hampton Inn and Garden Inn hotels. EcoPlex® offers convenient access to downtown West Palm Beach’s amenity base including high-profile restaurants and business destinations including Rosemary Square and the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

Additionally, the property’s location offers strategic access onto the region’s major transportation infrastructure, including Interstate 95 (less than 1 mile away), Palm Beach County International Airport (1 mile away), Tri-Rail, Brightline Florida Trains (2 miles away), and the Florida Turnpike (4.6 miles away).

The acquisition represents the second Palm Beach County joint venture between MHCREF and Waterfall following their successful acquisition of the Golden Bear Plaza in Palm Beach Gardens in May 2020. The project also represents the first purchase for MHCREF’s new fund which is projected to acquire between $200 and $250 million of commercial property throughout the Southeastern United States over the next 18-24 months, following the successful acquisition of approximately $115 million of property in its initial fund which was fully invested in December 2021.

MHCREF principals Neil E. Merin, Dung Lam and Jordan Paul stated, “We are very pleased to kick off our second fund by purchasing one of the premier office buildings in our hometown of West Palm Beach.  West Palm Beach has emerged as one of the premier office locations in the United States and EcoPlex® provides its tenants with outstanding access to all the area has to offer. As the only LEED® Gold Certified building in the city with a full backup generator system and construction engineered to withstand a category 4 hurricane, EcoPlex® offers its tenants a unique value proposition in the highly sought-after West Palm Beach market.”  

Patti Unti, Managing Director at Waterfall stated, “We are excited to be partnering with MHCREF on our second transaction in southeast Florida. The MHCREF team brings a deep bench of talent to our partnership along with a long history of operating within the West Palm Beach market. The EcoPlex® project offers a differentiated office approach to a sub-market we believe is well-positioned for future growth.” 

Corey Winsett, Director of Acquisitions for MHCREF oversaw the acquisition and due diligence process on behalf of the MHCRF/Waterfall JV. Financing for the transaction was provided by LoanCore Capital a leading institutional lender that has financed over $25 billion in commercial real estate loans since 2008. Steve Kay, Managing Director and JP Kost, Vice President, structured the financing transaction on behalf of LoanCore Capital.

Elizabeth Jones and John Strickroot of the Shutts & Bowen law firm represented the purchaser on the transaction. NAI/Merin Hunter Codman will manage and lease the property with the team of Managing Directors Lesley Sheinberg and Barbara LeBrun, SIOR.

 

Corporate Barter Company Adds Square Footage, Jobs At Fort Lauderdale Office

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A corporate barter company will hire as many as 75 additional employees in South Florida as it increases its presence in Fort Lauderdale.

Greenwich, Connecticut-headquartered Icon International currently employs 54 people at its 15,369-square-foot office on the third floor of the Plaza at Las Olas at 301 East Las Olas Blvd. The company will expand into an 8,220-square-foot space on the eighth floor this summer, stated Serena Coons, Icon’s project manager in Fort Lauderdale.

Once the new jobs are filled, Icon’s Fort Lauderdale operation will have 129 employees.

Icon’s local office houses the company’s media teams (digital, national, and local), accounting team, and sales team.

Founded 35 years ago, Icon International specializes in corporate barter, a sector in which companies exchange undervalued or surplus inventory, capital goods, real estate, or “other assets that aren’t performing or providing ROI [return on investment],” according to the company’s website.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting companies to Broward County, has been courting Icon International to open an office in Broward since 2019, said Maggie Gunther, GFLA’s VP of marketing and communications.

Icon International initially opened a satellite office in the Cypress Center at 6600 N. Andrews Ave. in May 2019, when it was still a subsidiary of New York-based Omnicom Group. In June 2021, Omnicom divested itself of Icon International.
Source:  SFBJ

Office Complex On Las Olas Boulevard Sells For $144.5M

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CBRE has facilitated the sale of Las Olas Square on behalf of a joint venture between funds managed by Apollo Global Management, SQUARE2 Capital, and Steelbridge Capital.

Las Olas Square is a two-building, 267,000-square-foot mixed-use property located on a full city block at the Main & Main intersection of the Las Olas office and retail district in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The joint venture purchased the property and excess development land in 2016 for $90 million and executed an extensive redevelopment and re-tenanting of this iconic Ft. Lauderdale asset whose tenants includes Truist Bank, Spaces, and Del Frisco’s Grill. It also had previously sold the excess development land to a national developer for $20 million, who is currently building a 50-story residential tower on the site.

The sellers were exclusively represented by Christian Lee and Andrew Chilgren with CBRE Capital Markets. Amy Julian with CBRE Debt & Structured Finance arranged financing on behalf of the buyer, a joint venture between CP Group and Related Fund Management. A fund managed by Alliance Bernstein provided the floating rate loan.

Las Olas Square includes a 17-story office tower located at 515 E. Las Olas Blvd. (515 Building), a three-story building located at 501 E. Las Olas Blvd. (501 Building), and an attached four-story parking structure. It is 88 percent leased to 17 tenants across a variety of industries, including banking, legal services, real estate, accounting, and financial services.

“The sellers returned the property to its rightful, iconic state through a multimillion-dollar, transformative renovation that activated the entire 500 block of Las Olas Boulevard. In conjunction with interior building enhancements, the addition of an outdoor tenant plaza has drastically improved the property’s curb appeal and desirability, which has attracted a high-quality and diversified tenant roster,” said Lee, CBRE Vice Chairman.

 

Grover Corlew Acquires Downtown Boca Office Building

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The South Florida-based real estate investment management group, Grover Corlew, has acquired Palmetto Park City Center, a 66,606-square-foot office building in downtown Boca Raton for $25.2 million.

Having earned the reputation in Florida and the southeastern U.S. for reimagining infill office properties in prime locations, Grover Corlew plans to invest in Palmetto Park City Center with upgrades to tenant space, common areas, landscaping and the façade.

Located at 120 East Palmetto Park Road, Palmetto Park City Center is a five-story, Class A office building that sits adjacent to the 109,497-sq.-ft. Bank of America Tower, purchased by Grover Corlew in July 2021.

Less than a year after acquiring the eight-story Bank of America Tower, Grover Corlew has already made major strides toward revitalizing the property. During that time, both tenant occupancy levels and rental rates have risen by 30%. A high-end and well-known restaurant has also signed a 7,800-square-foot lease and will open on the ground floor later this year. Plans are also underway for substantial renovations and development of the Bank of America Tower, which will take advantage of the building’s significant retail frontage along the burgeoning East Palmetto Park Road.

“We have been making continuous investments in Boca Raton since 2016 when we originally purchased 1499 West Palmetto Park Road and subsequently purchased the adjacent 1489 building,” said partner Mark Corlew.  “Our headquarters are here, and we’re raising our children here. We see these two properties as an ideal opportunity to invest in our hometown.”

Originally built in 1996, Palmetto Park City Center is located in the heart of downtown Boca Raton, with direct access on Palmetto Park Rd and just east of US-I.  The property is within walking distance of Mizner Park, is less than a mile from the Boca Raton Resort & Club and is within close proximity to Royal Palm Place, countless restaurants and shops, and the soon to be completed Brightline station. The building was awarded an Energy Star label in 2015 and features a renovated lobby, lush landscaping and ample covered and free surface parking.

In addition to Fort Lauderdale International and Palm Beach International airports, Palmetto Park City Center is also in close proximity to Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale executive airports.

The Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets team led by Dominic Montazemi and Scott O’Donnell brokered the transaction, and financing was provided by Wells Fargo facilitated by Patrick Ramge.

“Because of their recent purchase of the adjacent building, Grover Corlew was uniquely positioned to benefit from scale and synergy that buying 120 E. Palmetto Park provides,” said Dominic Montazemi of Cushman & Wakefield.

In November 2021, Grover Corlew sold Sabre Centre I, a Class A office building also located in Boca Raton, after investing significantly in common area and tenant upgrades while re-tenanting the building in its entirety. The building received considerable attention when Gift of Life, a bone marrow and stem cell registry, moved its corporate headquarters there.

Most recently, Grover Corlew launched Mayla Residences, a new ground-up multifamily brand and celebrated the groundbreaking of the 355-luxury residence, Mayla Pompano, located on East Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach.

“This is a strategic move for us as we continue to set our sights on underrealized areas of South Florida,” noted partner Anuj Grover. “This stretch of the East Palmetto Park corridor has tremendous long-term potential as a lifestyle friendly location to do business. We look forward to repositioning and rebranding this exceptionally well-situated property.”