KBS Disposes of North Fulton Office Space

ATLANTA—Dallas-based Macfarlan Capital Partners just acquired a class A suburban office building located in the North Fulton submarket of the Atlanta MSA. The private real estate investment sponsor bought Royal Ridge, which stands in Alpharetta, GA.

“Royal Ridge is well positioned to benefit from expanding commercial activity in the North Fulton Submarket over the next several years,” Mac Macfarlan who leads the firm's acquisitions team, tells GlobeSt.com. “We are thrilled to own this great asset together with our partners.”

Some of Royal Ridge's most notable tenants include Axis Reinsurance Company and Hagemeyer North America. Both companies have called the office building home since 2002.

Macfarlan purchased the building from an investment affiliate of KBS Realty Advisors, who was represented by Chris Marshall of JLL. Jason Piering and Drew Kiesling of JLL represented Macfarlan in sourcing the debt financing RGA Reinsurance provided.

Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, KBS found exiting an attractive strategy. KBS could not immediately be reached for comment. McFarland found entering just as attracting.

KBS acquired Royal Ridge for $33 million in 2007. Built in 2001, Royal Ridge is a six-story class A office property. The 160,539-square-foot building sits on a 13.2-acre site. When KBS first acquired the asset, it pointed to "its positive investment attributes including a location boasting strong growth, an educated workforce and excellent access to major highway intersections."

According to a recent CBRE report, US economic growth is expected to further boost office space demand over the next three years, leading to tight market conditions and higher rents—10 of the 14 major downtown markets and eight of the 13 major suburban markets surveyed by CBRE Research are expecting rents to rise in 2015. Vacancy should continue its downward trend in the near term, the firm predicts, bottoming out at 12.2% in 2018.