PALM BEACH, FL—Electra America, a private owner-operator focused on multifamily investment in the southeastern United States, has merged with Robbins Property Associates, a full-service owner-operator and apartment management company. The new Robins Electra owns and operates a shared $2 billion multifamily portfolio, which spans 20,000 multifamily units in 66 properties located in Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. The company will focus on the strategic acquisition of value-add multifamily properties in rapid-growth markets throughout the US southeast and Texas.

TAMPA, FL—New York-based Sterling Equities sold Park Tower, a 476,000-square-foot, 36-story office building in the heart of Tampa's Central Business District. The property, which was the first high-rise tower built in Downtown Tampa, sold to a joint venture between NYSE-listed City Office REIT, Tower Realty Partners and Feldman Equities for $79.75 million. John F. Gerlach, managing director of Office Services with Colliers International Tampa Bay, represented Sterling and joint owner PT Associates in the transaction.

DEAL TRACKER

JACKSONVILLE, FL—Coca-Cola Beverages Florida has closed a transaction with an affiliate of Coca-Cola Company for distribution rights in five North Florida territories, including Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Daytona and Brevard County, along with production facilities in Jacksonville and Orlando. This transaction follows an October announcement that Coca-Cola Company reached a definitive agreement with Coca-Cola Florida to purchase nine distribution centers and four production facilities in North and South Florida. The South Florida transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2017.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—CBRE brokered the sale of a single-tenant retail property leased to Walgreens. Pines Group purchased the property at 6591 Forest Hill Boulevard for $5.9 million from AMCO Properties. CBRE represented AMCO. The sale included a 1.19-acre outparcel to Woodbridge Plaza, located at the northwest corner of Forest Hill Boulevard and Jog Road, a prime intersection in central Palm Beach County. The parcel is subject to a long-term absolute net ground lease to Walgreens, which recently relocated from its 30-year inline operation at a shopping center across the street from Woodbridge. The recently constructed 14,550-square-foot pharmacy with drive-thru lanes opened for business in March 2014. “Demand for long-term, investment-grade, single-tenant investment properties remains very strong, especially in primary markets such as Southeast Florida,” says David J. Donnellan, senior vice president with CBRE. “This particular Walgreens had rental escalations during the lease term, somewhat unique as compared to most other Walgreens leases where rent is generally fixed with no escalations. This further enhanced investor demand and drove strong pricing for our client.”

JACKSONVILLE, FL—Avison Young completed a 12,687 square foot office lease renewal with SprintCom at Flagler Center 100, a two-story, 106,439-square-foot premier office building located at 12735 Gran Bay Parkway within the Flagler Center business park in Jacksonville, FL. Avison Young's Ross Carrier and Mark Montgomery, both senior vice presidents, spearheaded the transaction on behalf of the asset's ownership, Crocker Partners, one of the Jacksonville market's largest office space owners with 1.8 million square feet. Louis Nutter, senior vice president of CBRE, represented SprintCom. This most recent transaction brings the total square feet of leases completed in third quarter 2016 within Flagler Center business park to 67,623 square feet.

BOCA RATON, FL—Marcus & Millichap senior vice president and Institutional Property Advisors senior director Douglas K. Mandel, along with National Office and Industrial Properties Group associate Timothy P. Thomas negotiated the sale of 3010 North Military Trail, a 36,464-square-foot office building located in Boca Raton. Butters Acquisitions purchased the newly-renovated building for $4.6 million from Numed Holdings, an entity managed Todd Stephens manages. Stephens was one of 16 defendants charged in September in federal court with participating in a massive insurance fraud scheme including pharmaceutical drugs and illegal kickbacks, according to US officials. “The 3010 North Military Trail property provides Butters Acquisitions LLC with a unique opportunity to own a prospective corporate headquarter facility or a value-add investment within one of the most dynamic and resilient submarkets in South Florida, at a price well-below replacement cost,” says Mandel. The three-story office building, sits on a 2.11-acre site between Glades Road, Yamato Road and Interstate 95, was vacant at the time of the sale. Mandel and Thomas represented both parties in the transaction.

Industry consolidation continues, but this week it's not brokerage firms—it's multifamily investors. Meanwhile, net leased assets are still seeing traction in Florida and some big trades in the office market. Jacksonville and West Palm Beach were some of the more active markets early this week.

BY THE NUMBERS

Palm Beach County's office market has seen vacancy decline 260 basis points year-over-year in the third quarter. Major drivers including job growth, population growth and tourism, fueled demand for commercial real estate in Palm Beach County. Granite Telecom will expand into 15,800 square at Reflections Towers in West Palm Beach and plans to add 50 employees to its existing workforce of 66. Lease rates steadily increased for 12 consecutive quarters. Pricing in the Palm Beach County office market remains attractive to investors compared to primary markets. (Source: CBRE)

NEWS & NOTABLES

PALM BEACH, FL—Electra America, a private owner-operator focused on multifamily investment in the southeastern United States, has merged with Robbins Property Associates, a full-service owner-operator and apartment management company. The new Robins Electra owns and operates a shared $2 billion multifamily portfolio, which spans 20,000 multifamily units in 66 properties located in Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. The company will focus on the strategic acquisition of value-add multifamily properties in rapid-growth markets throughout the US southeast and Texas.

TAMPA, FL—New York-based Sterling Equities sold Park Tower, a 476,000-square-foot, 36-story office building in the heart of Tampa's Central Business District. The property, which was the first high-rise tower built in Downtown Tampa, sold to a joint venture between NYSE-listed City Office REIT, Tower Realty Partners and Feldman Equities for $79.75 million. John F. Gerlach, managing director of Office Services with Colliers International Tampa Bay, represented Sterling and joint owner PT Associates in the transaction.

DEAL TRACKER

JACKSONVILLE, FL—Coca-Cola Beverages Florida has closed a transaction with an affiliate of Coca-Cola Company for distribution rights in five North Florida territories, including Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Daytona and Brevard County, along with production facilities in Jacksonville and Orlando. This transaction follows an October announcement that Coca-Cola Company reached a definitive agreement with Coca-Cola Florida to purchase nine distribution centers and four production facilities in North and South Florida. The South Florida transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2017.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—CBRE brokered the sale of a single-tenant retail property leased to Walgreens. Pines Group purchased the property at 6591 Forest Hill Boulevard for $5.9 million from AMCO Properties. CBRE represented AMCO. The sale included a 1.19-acre outparcel to Woodbridge Plaza, located at the northwest corner of Forest Hill Boulevard and Jog Road, a prime intersection in central Palm Beach County. The parcel is subject to a long-term absolute net ground lease to Walgreens, which recently relocated from its 30-year inline operation at a shopping center across the street from Woodbridge. The recently constructed 14,550-square-foot pharmacy with drive-thru lanes opened for business in March 2014. “Demand for long-term, investment-grade, single-tenant investment properties remains very strong, especially in primary markets such as Southeast Florida,” says David J. Donnellan, senior vice president with CBRE. “This particular Walgreens had rental escalations during the lease term, somewhat unique as compared to most other Walgreens leases where rent is generally fixed with no escalations. This further enhanced investor demand and drove strong pricing for our client.”

JACKSONVILLE, FL—Avison Young completed a 12,687 square foot office lease renewal with SprintCom at Flagler Center 100, a two-story, 106,439-square-foot premier office building located at 12735 Gran Bay Parkway within the Flagler Center business park in Jacksonville, FL. Avison Young's Ross Carrier and Mark Montgomery, both senior vice presidents, spearheaded the transaction on behalf of the asset's ownership, Crocker Partners, one of the Jacksonville market's largest office space owners with 1.8 million square feet. Louis Nutter, senior vice president of CBRE, represented SprintCom. This most recent transaction brings the total square feet of leases completed in third quarter 2016 within Flagler Center business park to 67,623 square feet.

BOCA RATON, FL—Marcus & Millichap senior vice president and Institutional Property Advisors senior director Douglas K. Mandel, along with National Office and Industrial Properties Group associate Timothy P. Thomas negotiated the sale of 3010 North Military Trail, a 36,464-square-foot office building located in Boca Raton. Butters Acquisitions purchased the newly-renovated building for $4.6 million from Numed Holdings, an entity managed Todd Stephens manages. Stephens was one of 16 defendants charged in September in federal court with participating in a massive insurance fraud scheme including pharmaceutical drugs and illegal kickbacks, according to US officials. “The 3010 North Military Trail property provides Butters Acquisitions LLC with a unique opportunity to own a prospective corporate headquarter facility or a value-add investment within one of the most dynamic and resilient submarkets in South Florida, at a price well-below replacement cost,” says Mandel. The three-story office building, sits on a 2.11-acre site between Glades Road, Yamato Road and Interstate 95, was vacant at the time of the sale. Mandel and Thomas represented both parties in the transaction.