Boston Buyer Stakes Second Claim in OKC

STAG has joined a growing group of out-of-state investors eyeing the solid returns to be made in the Oklahoma City marketplace, Tim Strange, senior adviser in OKC for Sperry Van Ness, tells GlobeSt.com. He says the $5.5-million listing at 715 Metropolitan Rd. attracted a half dozen to eight would-be buyers, many from out of state. "I still think Oklahoma City is largely a well-kept secret in the US," he says. "But, we're starting to see buyers from the East Coast and the West Coast. I think people from the coast view it as maybe a safer place to make investments for the next few years."

STAG vice president David Pizzotti says he's actively pursuing more properties in the city and elsewhere in the Southwest. STAG's second acquisition in OKC was, like the first, driven by criteria to acquire single-tenant office and industrial properties on short-term, net leases in the $5-million to $30-million range. The tenant, CIT Group, a commercial and consumer finance company, moved into 3.59-acre Westpark Office Center in 1988, just three years after it delivered. "We feel they are committed to the building," Pizzotti says.

Strange says the deal was under contract since late 2005, but it required a two-phased due diligence. First, there was a workout for defeasance and then the buyer's normal due diligence. "They were back to back," he says, explaining the length of time that it took for the "north of $5-million" deal to hit the closing table.

Strange represented the local seller, Westside Associates LP. Eric Cooper of Southpace Properties in Birmingham, AL bargained for STAG, which bought a 94,080-sf warehouse and distribution center at 1000 NW 2nd St. in January. It is leased to Fort Worth-based ATC Logistics & Electronics LP.

"They're very happy with the two deals they've made," Strange says, "and I'm looking for more for them."