"The stars were definitely aligned, especially in this environment," Johnson tells GlobeSt.com. "It's a good number on paper, but our philosophy here is that it's a team effort; even though I may be point guy, credit should go to whole team," which for investment sales always includes fellow NBS broker Gene Bentley.
On Nov. 12, GlobeSt.com broke the news that Johnson was the lead broker for Schnitzer Investment Corp's $19-million acquisition of the 103,000-sf PGT Tower, but also represented Schnizter in Dave Evans and Associates' 70,000-sf lease in the building. The term of the lease was not immediately available, but Johnson tells GlobeSt.com that Dave Evans' commitment was integral to the sales transaction, which means the 300-person firm likely received a significant break on the initial $21 per sf NNN asking rate for the space. Assuming $18 per sf for five years, the deal value would be about $6.3 million.
The next day, GlobeSt.com broke news of Kaiser's 45,358-sf, $6-million lease in Schnitzer Northwest's 5800 Meadows building on Kruse Way. Finally, a little more than two weeks later, GlobeSt.com also was first to report the closing of Johnson's --- and the region's -- biggest investment sale of the year: the $87.5 million sale of the 700,000-sf, 93% leased Cornell Oaks Corporate Center to PS Business Parks. The project, which includes 24 acres of developable land, was initially offered for sale with a price tag of $105 million. "Every one of those deals started before September 11th and all were impacted in some way, economically, emotionally or whatever," says Johnson.
Add in his participation in Schnitzer's $40-million acquisition of 5800 and 6000 Meadows back in January, his work on the $7.5-million sale of the 205 Corporate Center in February and "a ton of smaller deals," and Johnson describes it as "an OK year."
And for Johnson, it is true.
Johnson, who joined NBS in 1987, has been a top producer for the full service real estate services company for 10 of the past 11 years, and for three of the past six years has been named the Portland Metropolitan Owners and Managers Broker of the Year. In 1999, he was named Investment Broker of the Year by the Commercial Association of Realtors for Oregon and Southwest Washington. In 2000, a great year for most everyone in the business, his work on J.P. Morgan's $118.7-million sale of the Lincoln Center office tower to Spieker Properties on was only good enough for runner-up status.
Johnson's prowess earned him partner status at NBS in December of last year.
As for his predictions on the market, Johnson says the pipeline is looking strong from an investment standpoint, but the jury is still out on when leasing will pick up region wide. Looking at specific markets, Johnson says Kruse Way is looking good because Kaiser's lease soaked up 20% of the available inventory in the area. Downtown is also in pretty decent shape, he says. "Sunset Corridor is the big question," says Johnson, referring to the Portland region's tech heavy west side market, where more than a few buildings stand completely vacant these days.
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