MIAMI-USAA Real Estate Co. has purchased the 476,412-square-foot Datran Center from Crescent Real Estate Equities and has named Cushman & Wakefield of Florida the exclusive leasing and marketing agent for the two-building office property. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and USAA did not return calls Tuesday.

Datran Center consists of Tower I, an 18-story, 259,707-square-foot building that is 88% leased and Tower II, a 216,595-square-foot, 21-story building that is 95% leased, says Donald Cartwright, director of leasing for C&W's client solutions. The San Antonio, TX-based buyer had agreed to hire the firm at the closing while they had the property under contract.

"It is one of the largest office complexes outside of the CBD," Cartwright tells GlobeSt.com. "Our recommendation to USAA is to renew the awareness of the property to tenants who can take advantage of its strongest and most unique feature—a Metrorail Station in the building." He says the office complex is the only commercial building in Miami-Dade County to boast that amenity and calls it one of the early transit-oriented developments, "which is now a buzz word that is being used for office or mixed-use projects all along the Metrorail and Trirail through South Florida."

The class A office space is located at 9130 S Dadeland Blvd., close to US 1 and Kendall Drive. Nicole Vassilaros, who served as Datran Center's leasing manager under Crescent for the past two years, has now joined C&W to remain in that role. Leasing rates average $36 net of electric, says Cartwright, and current tenants include Preferred Care Partners, Inc., AXA Advisors, Heineken USA, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Raymond James. In addition to the office space recently purchased by USAA, Datran Center also has 50,000 square feet of retail and a 300-room Marriott hotel with conference space on the premises.

The property is located in the growing Kendall submarket, which currently has 260,000 square feet of office product under construction and a vacancy rate of 10.9%, according to CB Richard Ellis' third-quarter market report. "That particular submarket has performed very well and has transformed itself dramatically over the past few years, developing itself as a major 'edge city,'" says Cartwright.