Comerica Tower Sells for $196 PSF

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Comerica Tower, a class A boutique office tower in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, has a new owner. Brookwood Financial Partners of Beverly, MA, acquired the 11-story building from Beacon Investment Properties of for $32.5 million, or $196 per square foot.

The office building, which boasts an above-market parking ratio of 3.5 per 1,000 square foot, is 82% leased. CBRE represented the seller.

“Downtown Fort Lauderdale absorption has been led by a migration of tenants from the suburbs to the CBD,” says CBRE vice chairman Christian Lee. “This has been a national trend, where possible, as employers find it easier to attract and retain higher level talent to urban locations.”

According to CBRE, Comerica Tower has benefited from strong leasing activity in downtown Fort Lauderdale over the last two years. Beacon owned Comerica Tower for two years, Lee notes, and increased occupancy from 69% to 82%. The seller decided to exit after realizing its objectives. Says Lee, “While Beacon is widely known for its disciplined and expedited acquisition strategies, it was just as responsive as a seller.”

Thomas W. Brown, Brookwood's director of acquisitions, offers more stats. The Downtown Fort Lauderdale submarket saw positive abortion in every quarter of 2013 and has a current vacancy rate of 14.3%, down from 18.9% in the first quarter of 2013.

“Similar to all of our value-add acquisitions over the last few years, our primary objective is to reposition the property in the market, which we expect will increase the appeal of the building to current and prospective tenants and enable us to lease the vacant space and renew expiring leases at higher rental rates,” Brown says. “[Beacon] made a good buy several years ago and have done an excellent job in creating value and stabilizing the asset at its current occupancy of 82%. In addition, they have been very responsive and terrific to work with throughout the acquisition process.”

Ariel Bentata, co-founder and managing partner of Beacon, calls Brookwood an astute investor: “The buyer performed as anticipated on all aspects of the acquisition and we feel confident this exceptional office tower and its tenants will be in very good hands.” Comerica Tower is within walking distance of retail shops, restaurants and over 3,500 multifamily units that are either under construction or planned.

“Of this multifamily activity, 1,850 units are north of Broward Boulevard in close proximity to the property,” says José Lobón, a senior associate at CBRE. “This area is now a young and hip enclave, home to neighborhoods such as Progresso Village, Flagler Village and Flagler Art & Technology Village, and amenities such as the new Fresh Market supermarket, and numerous art galleries, and cafes.”             

The Miami-based CBRE team representing the seller included Lee and Lobón with CBRE's Capital Markets Institutional Group, along with Charles Foschini and Chris Apone with CBRE's Debt & Structured Finance Group. The CBRE Office Leasing team of Deanna Lobinsky and Travis Herring, and JLL office leasing broker Jonathan Kingsley, assisted.