The buildings at 3700 and 3800 Classen Blvd. are 70% leased. Zach Martin, adviser with Sperry Van Ness' Oklahoma City office, tells GlobeSt.com that the new owner, Oklahoma Property Investors II LLC, will put thousands of dollars into cosmetic upgrades for both buildings. "The upside is that there is space to lease up and room to grow the rent rates," says Martin, who brokered the transaction between the buyer and seller, IDK Investors LLC. Martin also has the leasing assignment.

Martin says upgrades will include landscaping, common areas and lobbies in addition to renovations via tenant improvements. He says the class B office buildings are in good shape, but do need some freshening up.

Martin partnered with Sperry Van Ness managing director Tim Strange on the transaction. "The Classen Street area had fallen to about a C-minus area, but now it's coming along," Martin says, adding the ownership change was well timed with the market. "OCU, the adjacent college, is expanding and the city of Oklahoma is doing a streetscape project along Classen Blvd."

The submarket's office vacancy is hovering just above 9% while rental rates are creeping slowly upward. "That type of activity is indicative of the great things that are happening in that part of town," Martin says.

Situated on slightly more than three acres, the buildings were built in 1981 and renovated in 1995. Lead tenants are the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and Oklahoma Water Resources Board.