GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: 5050 Quorum's Buyer Decided

Sources tell GlobeSt.com that the 133,799-sf, seven-story 5050 Quorum Dr. went under contract for $68 per sf. The class B asset is 46% leased. That occupancy didn't keep the opportunity seekers away as it did with 3333 Lee Parkway, an Uptown asset that had its lead tenant, Weblink Wireless Inc., labeled a lease risk by investors seeking a steep discount on the price. Crescent pulled the 233,543-sf building and there's no timetable for it to be reintroduced, the source says.

Robert Aisner, Behringer Harvard's president, says 5050 Quorum's occupancy isn't a concern. "That's exactly the type of asset that this type of fund is looking for," he tells GlobeSt.com about the second take-down this year from the Behringer Harvard Short-Term Opportunity Fund I LP. "This building has no immediate roll. That's one of the things that we liked about it...given where it's situated in a recovering market."

Aisner won't confirm the price, but did say his offer "is a number we think creates an attractive return for the shareholder." He says the transaction will close within 60 days. Some debt will be placed, but it could come after the closing since there's ample capital to fuel the trade.

Brad Behringer and Terry Kennon are leading talks for the buy side. A Trammell Crow Co. team is brokering for the Fort Worth-based Crescent.

Crescent has set a course to sell class B office assets and select class A in a move to become an investment manager with percentage stakes in properties rather than ride as the sole owner. A week ago, the REIT got about $30 million from the Easton Group in Miami for the 399,777-sf 1800 West Loop South in Houston. Monday's agenda has a closing penciled in for the Liberty Plaza I and II, with 218,813 sf of class A space at 5055 Keller Springs Road, to a Dallas-based joint venture partnership between the Holt Cos. and Champion Partners. But, as the industry knows all too well, anything can happen between now and then.