New Boston Reveals South Florida Strategy

MIAMI—New Boston Fund, an independent, privately owned real estate investment manager, has developed or acquired commercial and residential properties with a total market value of about $3.5 billion, including 23 million square feet of commercial real estate and 7,500 residential units. Over the past three years, New Boston has expanded its South Florida portfolio through the acquisition of an additional 373,000 square feet of class A office space.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Jennifer Patterson, vice president of Asset Management for New Boston's Southeast region, to talk about the firm's strategy in South Florida. Be sure to come back this afternoon for Patterson's take on the local market.

GlobeSt.com: Why did New Boston Fund invest additional capital in upgrading BayView Corporate Tower?

Patterson: Over the last few years, we realized that the market perceived BayView Corporate Tower as ideal for large users due to the size of the building's floor plates and it being Broward County's largest office building.

Knowing that this market is dominated by small and mid-size tenants, we have been transitioning BayView from a single user office building into a multi-tenant property to demonstrate how the building can efficiently accommodate users from 1,500 square feet and up. Enhancements include new paint, awnings, signage and outdoor pavers. We've also improved the building's interior common areas and created new spec spaces that are move-in ready. The goal is three-fold: retain existing tenants, attract new users of all sizes, and maximize asset value.

GlobeSt.com What does it take to re-sign and extend the lease of a major public company like Whole Foods Market?

Patterson: Our firm values its relationships with tenants across the country, and a public company is no different. Our ability to understand a user's core business and real estate needs is unique in the commercial real estate sector, and tenants appreciate that attention to detail. Take Whole Foods, for example. We spent a good deal of time working with Whole Foods to develop a plan for keeping their regional office at BayView Corporate Tower while also expanding their presence in the building. Their business needs changed during the course of negotiations, and yet we were still able to get the deal done.

GlobeSt.com: What's the latest with the firm's property in Doral, One Park Square?

Patterson: We acquired One Park Square at Doral in 2010 and have since grown the building's occupancy rate to more than 75%. Our leasing team is aggressively marketing the remaining office space to multinational corporate users and entrepreneurial firms that see value in the building's prime Doral location.

We are also leasing approximately 50,000 square feet of street-level retail space, which is receiving a great deal of interest as Related Group and Shoma Group develop a new residential project on the adjacent property. Doral is among Florida's fastest growing cities when it comes to business and residential population. This bodes well for One Park Square and the larger market.