NORCROSS, GA-Miramar, FL-based National Constructors Inc. has acquired Watkins Center, a 514,000-sf flex/industrial property along Interstate 85, for $36.7 million in an off-market deal. The property consists of 20 single-story buildings ranging in size from 25,000 to 120,000 sf. The seller was Atlanta North FlexxSpace.

Harry Wardell, senior vice president with Miami-based Lincoln Property Co., tells GlobeSt.com that National Constructors had been looking at other properties in the area of Watkins Center when it recognized a logo on the side of the one of its buildings as that of Atlanta North FlexxSpace, which is also headquartered in South Florida.

"National Constructors contacted Atlanta North FlexxSpace and asked if the company wanted to sell the property," he says. "They did and we negotiated a deal." Wardell and Steven Medwin, also senior vice president with Lincoln, represented National Constructors. The seller was represented by Miami-based Adler Group president Brett Harris.

National Constructors plans to convert the property into commercial condominiums. With existing leases, the conversation will be completed in about a year. Pricing information is not yet available and sales efforts for the project have not yet started, Wardell says. "Unlike other areas of the country, Atlanta does not have a lot of condo warehouses," he says.

The acquisition is one of six valued at more than $56 million made recently by National Constructors. Other acquisitions include 130 acres of developable land in Miramar, Orlando and Melbourne, FL; and Phoenix. At final build-out, National will have developed nearly two million sf on these sites.