Rubicon Takes OP Trade Center for $47M

The seller, OPTC II LLC, is made up of area investors, according to Chris Walton of Phoenix-based Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial LLC. He and Rod Jones in the Kansas City, MO-based Grubb & Ellis/Winbury Group represented the seller while Rubicon used in-house representation to negotiate the deal.

OP Trade Center consists of a 585,257-sf, class B office building, completed in 1986, and a 51,391-sf addition, called Amigo Mart, which is an exhibit hall that was added a year ago. "The entire property is 100% leased to three tenants, including Amigo Group, which runs trade shows," Walton tells GlobeSt.com. The newest is Pacific Care, which took a 20-year lease for 182,000 sf a year ago. Walton, who represented OPTC in the lease negotiation, says the tenant has an option to build an additional 15,000-sf, two-story building on the surrounding 22 acres.

As for the sale, Walton says "market conditions were right. It's fully stabilized with no tenant rollover for another seven years."

Dave Karson, vice president of Sonnenblick Goldman, says the funding included a $41-million, 10-year senior loan provided by a major lender and a $4-million, short-term bridge loan from a New York City-based mezzanine fund. "The property is located next to Sprint's world headquarters in Kansas' prime Johnson County submarket," he says.

Without identifying the lenders or terms, he credits the property's "terrific tenant roster and obvious upside" to the quick close on funding. A call to Rubicon was not returned by deadline.

Prior to this sale, Walton also represented members of the same OPTC entity in the disposition of 14.5 adjacent acres for $5.8 million to the Keith Corp. of Charlotte, NC, which is the developer for Quintiles Transnational Corp. Quintiles, based in Research Triangle Park, NC is planning to develop a 236,000-sf building as a consolidation site for three facilities in Kansas.