Farbman Picks Up Suburban Trophy Asset

DETROIT—Farbman Group/NAI Farbman has just purchased 27777 Inkster Rd. in suburban Farmington Hills from TD Auto Finance, which will continue as anchor tenant for the 275,000 square-foot property. The price was not disclosed. The purchase comes as the suburban office market continues to heal and build momentum after suffering for several years from both the recession and the migration of many companies into the CBD.

“It was hands down the best corporate headquarters building in the market,” Andy Gutman, president of Southfield, MI-based Farbman Group, tells GlobeSt.com.

The vacancy rate for the metro Detroit market fell to 20.7% in the first quarter, a rate not seen since 2006, according to a recent report from Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. And even though the CBD has held its own, recently it's the suburban submarkets that have led the way. Southfield, for example, accounted for the bulk of the region's 528,000 square feet of positive absorption in the first quarter. And in Farmington Hills, the rate fell 130 bps to 19.6%. In fact, since 2013 the town has mostly seen quarterly positive absorption, with the vacancy rate falling 3.3 percentage points.   

TD Auto Finance will continue to lease 155,000 square feet in the class A asset. The rest of the space is available. The building sits on 35 acres and features generator power for the entire complex, a 'plug and play' open office environment and visible signage from I-696, Farbman officials say. It also offers ample parking, including the ability to provide a 6 per 1,000 parking ratio to 50,000 through 120,000 square-foot users.

“TD Auto Finance made a significant investment into this property that is beyond what you would find in a newly constructed office building in terms of quality or price,” says Andy Farbman, the company's chief executive. “We look forward to finding the corporate user or users for this majestic office property and of course we continue to look for new opportunities to invest in the State of Michigan.”