Koll Venture Buys $273M Office Portfolio

The deal marks the latest in a series of dispositions for AmeriVest as the REIT nears liquidation under a plan that it adopted in May. Bryan McGowan, a Koll managing principal, says that a key factor in AmeriVest's selection of the Koll Co. as the buyer for the properties was Koll's firm's expertise in the small tenant market.

McGowan explains that the 12 properties in the portfolio consist of 17 individual buildings targeted to small space users generally leasing less than 5,000 sf. The properties range from 79,689 sf to 202,262 sf, with individual buildings ranging up to 18 stories.

The deal includes an assumption of existing property level debt of approximately $126 million, with the transaction expected to close on a property-by-property basis beginning in mid-August as AmeriVest receives approvals from its mortgage lenders. The portfolio was marketed by Steve Suechting and Ann Sperling of Trammell Crow Co. in Greenwood Village, CO.

When the property sales close, the Koll/Per venture will have invested equity capital of more than $200 million and hold total assets of approximately $500 million. The new assets will expand the Koll Co.'s overall real estate ownership portfolio to more than 4.3 million sf of existing multi-tenant, light industrial and suburban office buildings in Southern California, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and the new markets it is entering with the AmeriVest acquisition.