SunTrust International Building Trades for $127M
Crocker Partners recently completed a $13.5-million capital improvement program at the building.
MIAMI—Crocker Partners has sold its 31-story SunTrust International Center tower building here in a deal valued at $127 million.
Boca Raton, FL-based Crocker Partners sold the downtown office tower to Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm PCCP, LLC.
The CBRE Capital Markets team facilitated the sale on behalf of the seller, Crocker Partners. Additionally, the CBRE Debt & Structured Finance team arranged financing of $101.8 million with Invesco on behalf of PCCP.
Crocker Partners had acquired the tower building in 2011 for approximately $80 million, according to multiple press reports;
CBRE vice chairman Christian Lee and SVP José Lobón oversaw the transaction for Crocker Partners, while the brokerage firm’s Amy Julian and CBRE Capital Markets senior financial analyst Andrew Chilgren worked on the financing deal for the buyer.
The SunTrust International Center building features 439,848 rentable square feet from which 406,346 square feet is office space. The retail component comprises 33,502 square feet that is 100% leased, including a 13,333-square-foot Walgreens. An adjoining garage annex was not included in the sale, according to CBRE.
Crocker Partners recently completed a $13.5-million capital improvement program at the building that included a 20-foot high grand lobby with travertine finishes throughout, upgrades to all multi-tenant floors, a cosmetic elevator modernization, outdoor terraces with downtown views and a new streetscape.
CBRE notes that Crocker Partners did not enjoy the full benefits of the renovation program. Lobón notes that the SunTrust International Center building currently offers the new ownership an immediate opportunity to drive value through the lease up of 169,727 square feet of vacant space. “Furthermore, the majority of this vacancy is made up of five contiguous full floors located in the upper stack of the tower and represents one of the most desirable blocks of space currently available in the Miami CBD,” he adds.
Julian says the Invesco loan will allow PCCP “to execute an aggressive lease-up plan that includes a strategic speculative suite program that has had much success at this property.”
Crocker Partners announced on Tuesday it had secured Duane Morris LLP as the penthouse tenant at its Citigroup Center tower in Downtown Miami. The law firm inked a 23,128-square-foot lease valued at $16.8 million. The 34-story, 809,594-square-foot Citigroup Center is Florida’s second largest Class A office building. Crocker Partners recently completed a $20-million renovation of the building.
Tower Commercial Real Estate’s Jon Blunk, Cristina Glaria and Laurel Oswald represented Crocker Partners in the deal. The law firm was represented by Tim Prunka of Savills Studley.
PCCP, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, has approximately $6.5 billion in assets under management on behalf of institutional investors.