Liberty Picks Up 100%-Leased Maitland Summit Park

Area brokers familiar with the 47-building Maitland Center submarket where the two buildings are located, tell GlobeSt.com the 1950 Summit Park Dr. properties probably sold for their replacement cost of about $150 to $200 per sf. That would place the estimated aggregate price of the assets at $50 million, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

"The acquisition of Maitland Summit Park creates a critical mass with our existing building at Summit Tower Boulevard, allowing us to provide our tenants and prospects with opportunities they likely cannot find elsewhere," says Stephen Whitley, senior vice president and city manager of Liberty Property Trust.

Liberty chairman and CEO Bill Hankowsky says the Maitland Summit Park purchase is only the beginning of a planned growth for his company in Central Florida. "With the acquisition of Maitland Summit Park, we continue to execute our expansion plans in the Orlando market," he says. "This is a market that we believe will continue to grow in the coming years, and purchasing these top quality buildings with land for future development fits right into our strategy."

Hankowsky adds, "Combined with our recently announced industrial joint venture at Airport Industrial Park Orlando, the Maitland acquisition gives us office product balance and opportunities for development that will take us well into the next decade."

The acquisition brings Liberty's holdings in Central Florida to 2.1 million sf and 7.1 million sf of office and industrial assets throughout the state. A 10-acre tract adjacent to the two buildings was part of the acquisition. "That parcel already has been approved for an additional 317,000 sf of office space," Todd W. Watson, a broker in Liberty's Orlando office, tells GlobeSt.com.

Maitland Summit Park consists of a four-phase development with 275,000 sf already constructed. The first building in the park was completed in 1986, followed by the second structure in 1992. Westbrook owned the buildings for six years. Trammell Crow negotiated for the buyer. Westbrook represented itself.

The deal took 30 days to complete, from contract signing to closing. The average asking gross rent range at the buildings is $22 to $24 per sf, full service. Liberty Property Trust will lease and manage the buildings. Key tenants are Charles Schwab, EA Sports/Tiburon Entertainment and ZOM Development.

Liberty now owns 24 office and industrial buildings in the Orlando market. In late 2004, the company closed on the 110,000-sf 7315 Kingspointe Parkway industrial building and the 229,000-sf warehouse building at 2351 Investor Row. Nationally, Liberty's 62 million-sf portfolio includes 700 properties which provide office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 2,100 tenants.