FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Suburban office buildings are getting more traction in South Florida—especially at REO prices. Atrium West, a bank-owned office building in Sunrise, just traded for $4.8 million.

Located at 7771 West Oakland Park Boulevard, two-story office building spans 92,689-square-foot property. The sales price equals $51.79 per square foot.

“As a testament to both the buyer and seller’s commitment to completing this deal, the bank supported the buyer’s efforts during due diligence to firm up several of the near-term lease expirations,” CBRE senior vice president Scott O’Donnell, said in a statement. “This was instrumental in facilitating financing but would have also benefitted the seller had the transaction never closed.”

The bank-owned asset was sold to Atrium 93, LLC, a local private equity group. CBRE represented the seller, ATC Realty One, a limited liability company. The building is located on a landscaped, 6.79-acre site at the northeast corner of University Drive and Oakland Park Boulevard. At the time of closing, the property was 62% leased.

Is $51.79 per square foot the bottom? According to Marcus & Millichap’s latest Fort Lauderdale office report, lower prices will encourage the reinvestment of proceeds into either multiple or larger assets. Generally, cap rates for most reasonably stable properties vary from the high-8 to low-9 percent range, although many investors elect to purchase on the basis of cash-on-cash returns.

“The notion of a ‘bottom’ differs from transaction to transaction,” says Ezra Katz, CEO of the Aztec Group. “The point where a particular asset reaches ‘bottom’ differs based on the perspective of the developer, the lender, the buyer, and the seller. On a macro scale, we may be in a period of continued, long-term volatility. Today’s market climate may be the ‘new normal.’ This possibility underscores the importance of adhering to sound investment objectives.”

CBRE’s South Florida Private Capital Group members, senior associates Marty Busekrus and Dominic Montazemi, and associate Miguel Alcivar, assisted O’Donnell on the transaction. Year to date, the team has closed six transactions spanning nearly 500,000 SF for a total sales volume of $48.6 million.