The seller, One Flagler LLC, is headed by Chris Coots and Didier Choukroun, who also head up Flagler Investment LLC, a locally based real estate investment company that acquires, operates and turns around underperforming assets. The distinctive 142,343-sf building, designed by the late Morris Lapidus, was completed in 1952 and fully renovated this year. It is located in the center of Downtown at 14 NE First Ave.

The sale also included the transfer of the leasehold interest on the land. The building is currently 79% leased by a mix of professional and retail tenants, and jewelry trade firms occupy 41% of the space, according to John Bell, SVP and head of South Florida investment sales in the local office of Trammell Crow Co. Bell represented the seller in the transaction. He tells GlobeSt.com the current rental rates in the building range from the high teens per sf to the low $20s per sf.

"The Downtown office market continues to tighten," adds Don Cartwright, a TCC principal and South Florida area director. He predicts that market fundamentals will improve, and the market "will experience price growth and rent spikes in the near term, making this a perfect time for users to stabilize their occupancy costs at a condominium instead of paying increased rents."