The deal was put together on behalf of AR/MED LLC, a local partnership, by the Newtown Square, PA-based GMH Capital Partners. A GMH investment team headed by Dave Forrest and Steve Behrle actually arranged the transaction. The buyer was SAP IV Originating LLC, a New York City-based investment group.

Commerce Center itself sits on a 13-acre site located about 10 minutes from center city Philadelphia in South Jersey. Its current major tenants include Lincoln Financial, New York Life, the headquarters of the law firm of Flaster Greenberg and Actelion Clinical Operations. The latter is a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company that moved into a 15,000-sf space earlier this year in a transaction arranged by the Philadelphia office of CB Richard Ellis.

"The level of investor interest in the property exceeded our expectations," says GMH's Forrest. "We did at least 30 tours of the property, and we had more than 20 offers on it, which resulted in the sale price of $117 per sf."

"The Commerce Center property was 89% occupied at the time of the sale, and it sold for an estimated cap rate of 8.25%," adds Behrle. "The property has experienced significant recent leasing activity, which I think demonstrates a positive trend of increasing demand for office space in this market."

GMH Capital Partners has arranged more than $1.3 billion in investment transactions in the last several years. Its major clients include GE Capital Real Estate, UBS Warburg and Goldman Sachs.

Instant Insights /

147,000-SF Office Complex Trades for $17M

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