MIAMI—Ivy Realty just won a $35.9 million acquisition loan to buy Tower 101 in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, FL. Tower 101 is a 227,764-square-foot, two-building office property at 101 Northeast 3rd Avenue. Ivy paid $56 million for the office building.

Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone of CBRE's Miami office arranged the non-recourse, balance sheet loan through Bank of America. BofA structured a three-year term with extension options, at a 64% loan-to-value ratio and a competitive floating rate over LIBOR.

"Ivy Realty's strength as a borrower and experience in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, coupled with the positive dynamics occurring along Broward Boulevard, resulted in strong interest from balance sheet lenders who typically look to finance only seasoned operators and quality assets," says Foschini, vice chairman of CBRE. The 19-story Tower 101 is joined to a neighboring six-story office building by a common lobby on the ground floor.

JLL inked a 52,683-square-foot headquarters lease transaction at Tower 101 in Downtown Fort Lauderdale last September. The tenant is Uniforms Direct, a provider of quality professional uniforms and scrubs. The company is relocating its corporate headquarters from Plantation, FL.

Tere Blanca, president and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com South Florida is now a top-tier market for domestic and international investors looking to acquire real estate, as well as multinational firms looking to enter the US. She's not just issuing a Pollyanna statement, though. She's got strong data and examples to back her up.

"We experienced a record-level of real estate investment in 2015 and saw a significant uptick in absorption at the office buildings we lease during the second half of the year," Blanca says. "Those trends should continue well into 2016. Corporate consolidations will result in some office space right-sizing, but at the same time we are seeing many of our regional clients expand, which is a sign of confidence in South Florida's long-term economy."