HORSHAM, PA—Workspace Property Trust, a new real estate investment firm led by longtime successful industry veterans Thomas Rizk, Roger Thomas and Howard Sipzner, purchased 41 office and flex buildings in Horsham, PA from Liberty Property Trust for approximately $245.3 million. 

Strategically located directly off the Pennsylvania Turnpike within Horsham, the portfolio consists of nearly 2.4 million square-feet across 41 buildings.  While the portfolio is diverse across property type and tenant mix, the most heavily concentrated property type within the portfolio is 860,000 square feet of class A, multi-story office space.  

Workplace says the acquisition represents the beginning of a strategic plan to build a portfolio of high quality, well-positioned suburban real estate assets in the Northeast region.

"We are thrilled to complete this transaction and begin building a substantial platform of suburban office real estate assets," says Rizk, WPT's CEO. "There are some interesting parallels between the current market environment and when I originally deployed a similar strategy after taking Cali Realty public in 1994.  We intend to use our deep relationships and strong market knowledge to aggressively pursue both marketed and non-marketed transactions as we grow this exciting franchise."

"We believe there is a significant opportunity to acquire high quality assets and portfolios in transit centric, amenity rich, near-city submarkets within the Northeast corridor, and I don't believe you could find a stronger management team to execute this vision," says Thomas, who is serving as president and chief operating officer of WPT.  "Between Tom, Howard and myself, we have over 75 years of experience operating in these markets and have assembled a veteran management team on the ground in Horsham who have been with these properties for many, many years.  It was a pleasure working with Liberty to execute this transaction, they are truly a first rate operator and have done a great job with this portfolio."

WPT management has partnered with Rizk Ventures, Forum Partners, JMP Group, and EverWatch Capital in this transaction.  The acquisition was financed with a $200 million loan provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank, and arranged by the HFF team of Mike Tepedino, Michael Gigliotti, Ryan Ade and James Conley.

Workspace Property Trust is a privately held, vertically integrated, full service commercial real estate company specializing in the development, management, and operation of office and flex space in the Northeast.  Workspace Property Trust is a partnership between Rizk Ventures, Forum Partners, JMP Group and EverWatch Capital.