JV Pays $15M for Cypress Center

The class B office building on Cypress Creek Road at Interstate 95 was completed in 1986 and is currently 84% occupied. The asset includes a developable pad, which Mark Lippmann, VP of Praedium, tells GlobeSt.com, "could accommodate an office or retail structure of between 40,000 sf and 50,000 sf. It's probably best suited to service retail," he says, "and we will look for a user before we develop the space." The asking rent for office space at the center is between $15 per sf and $16 per sf, triple net, he says.

This is the JV's first acquisition. In the past 12 months, Praedium has purchased approximately 1.3 million sf in South Florida, according to Lippmann. "We're focused on growing our South Florida portfolio and plan to add an additional one million sf within the next 12 months."

Locally based Mainstreet is a real estate investment and management firm that specializes in joint ventures with institutional partners. It currently owns and manages more than three million sf of office and industrial properties with an aggregate value of more than $400 million. Paul Kilgallon, president, says, "the Cypress Creek submarket's improving fundamentals will allow the partnership to quickly lease the vacant space at the property as well as take advantage of the value-added opportunity provided by development."