Hertz Claims 980,075 SF of Office in Two Cities

Shreveport's 25-floor AmSouth Center at 333 Texas St. is 86% leased. In Jackson, the buyer bought the 485,153-sf, 22-story AmSouth Plaza at 210 E. Capital St., which is pushing 100% occupancy. Both were built in the 1970s.

Johnny Lamberson, executive vice president with CB Richard Ellis' Memphis office, says the market for a stable class A building with a bit of upside prompted the Northern California-based seller to bring it to market. He tells GlobeSt.com that when Plaza Investments LLC's Shreveport building attracted so many qualified offers and Hertz Investment Group of Santa Monica, CA came along that "we felt it would make sense to talk to them about the Jackson opportunity."

Lamberson points out that the Jackson's AmSouth Plaza was more of an opportunistic play than its sister building in Shreveport because tenants will be vacating the building within the next year. "I think everyone felt that, with the Downtown Jackson market as tight on space as it is, this would be one of the only buildings to offer reasonable space for reasonably priced rents to accommodate demand," he adds.

In contrast, the Shreveport AmSouth Center has no significant roll in the near future. "It's a bank-anchored center, arguably the best building Downtown and with rates considered just under the market," says Lamberson, who with CBRE senior vice president Frank Quinn represented the seller.

While it's not certain what Hertz will do with the buildings, Lamberson says the company is well-capitalized and has a reputation for tenant attraction and retention. "My sense is that they'll spend the money in the right places to retain tenants and make the buildings attractive for new ones," he adds.