Olympus-Led Group Buys LightSpeed Telecom Center for Estimated $252 Mil

A partnership led by Dallas-based Olympus Real Estate Corp. is acquiring the property from LightSpeed Infrastructure in a metropolitan market that commanded an average $57.91-sf for typical industrial-warehouse space--the highest average for such property in the United States last year, according to the National Real Estate Index.

LightSpeed Miami Center, formerly Beacon Tradeport, has 710,000 sf of existing industrial; 527,000 sf of existing telecom; and 75 acres for future telecom development.

None of the parties would confirm the estimated sales price to GlobeSt.com at publication deadline.

But industry sources tell GlobeSt.com they don't rule out the possibility such property could fetch from $70 per sf to $80 per sf because of the telecommunication park's heavily fortified high-tech infrastructure. Using conservative estimates, the deal could be worth from $252 million at $57.91 per sf to $305 million at $70 per sf.

The partnership negotiated a deal that retains Hollywood, FL-based Swerdlow Real Estate Group Inc. as the telcom park's operating partner. Swerdlow directly controlled the telecom park through its affiliation with LightSpeed Infrastructure.

Besides Olympus and Swerdlow, the partnership group comprises Landmark Real Estate Fund III, a Connecticut-based investment firm, and Greenwood Properties Corp., an affiliate of Deutsche Bank. Terms of the partnership split were not disclosed in a prepared statement from Olympus.

The deal follows two recent major leasing successes at the telecom park. Although Swerdlow officials would neither confirm nor deny the figures, Telefonica DataCorp., a subsidiary of Madrid-based Telefonica S.A., recently signed a 15-year lease at slightly more than $13 per sf for 173,000 sf in the telecom park at State Road 836 and Florida's Turnpike. If those figures are correct, the deal is worth about $34 million.

Sources familiar with leasing activity at the telecom park tell GlobeSt.com they also suspect Exodus Communications paid comparable rents for a 340,000-sf Internet hosting facility--a deal that could be worth an estimated $72 million on a long-term lease of 15 years.