Unico Acquires Nashville Office Tower

NASHVILLE—Seattle-based Unico Properties, LLC has purchased the One Nashville Place office tower here in a deal that reportedly approaches $140 million.

The purchase of One Nashville Place marks the private real estate equity firm’s entrance into the Music City commercial market. While it says it has no further transactions in Nashville in the pipeline, the company reports the deal will serve as a platform to grow in Nashville in the future. Unico Properties is a subsidiary of Unico Investment Group LLC.

The SoBro property sold for $139.5 million, according to a report in the Nashville Business Journal. The newspaper also reported that the Agnew Co. of Vancouver, Canada was a partner in the transaction.

The acquisition encompasses the 418,824 square foot, 24-story One Nashville Place office building and an adjoining six-story parking garage. The company states that it plans to undertake a capital improvement program at the property, but did not specify the cost of that initiative in its announcement.

“One Nashville Place is positioned at the nexus of everything we find exciting about this vibrant city,” said Unico VP and regional director Andrew Cox, noting the building’s location at the intersection of Nashville’s commercial corridor and the city’s cultural and entertainment district. “It’s the perfect place for Unico to anchor our presence in Nashville,” he says.

Unico Properties chief investment officer Ned Carner cites Unico’s investments over the past 20 years in cities such as Seattle, Portland, Denver and Austin in the company’s interest in Nashville. “Metrics like Nashville’s strong population and employment growth, its relatively low corporate tax rate, and the percentage of local college graduates who have stayed in the metro area are all indications of an urban environment that attracts workforce and companies alike,” he says. “With these growth factors and the city’s one-of-a-kind cultural appeal, Nashville is in the early stages of becoming a target market for institutional real estate investment.”

Cushman & Wakefield brokered the acquisition, and will also be managing the property and leasing alongside Unico’s in-house team. Stewart Calhoun, Samir Idris, Crews Johnston, David Meline, and Andy Johns were the listing brokers. Michael Ryan and Brian Linnihan of Cushman & Wakefield represented Unico in the transaction. Stewart Lyman, Robby Davis and Rob Lowe of Cushman & Wakefield are handling leasing for One Nashville Place.

The purchase of One Nashville Place follows Unico’s significant transaction in Seattle a few months ago. In July, Unico Properties purchased two Class A office properties in Seattle’s southern Central Business District that encompasses the 1100 block of 2nd Avenue and totals 705,868 square feet.

The newly acquired properties consist of adjoining assets: 1111 Third, a 33-story tower with 565,883 square feet of traditional office space, and the adjacent 2nd & Spring, a five-story historic office building totaling 139,985 square feet. The buildings at the time of purchase were collectively 95% leased following a $65-million renovation completed in 2017.