KKR-Banyan Street JV Buys Atlanta Office Tower for $205M

ATLANTA—A joint venture of global investment firm KKR of New York City and Banyan Street Capital of Miami has acquired the 34-story Salesforce Tower here for $205 million.

The 631,808-square-foot tower in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta was sold by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., of Los Angeles and Banyan Street Capital. CBRE represented the sellers in the transaction. KKR is making the investment through its Real Estate Partners Americas Fund II.

In conjunction with the recent long-term expansion and renewal of Salesforce, CBRE reports that Oaktree completed an $8.4-million capital investment program offering a differentiated work environment with a high-energy, modern lobby and a dynamic collaborative ecosystem. Additionally, Salesforce invested more than $12 million in an interactive lobby and the creation of a top floor “Ohana” space, a sprawling multipurpose lounge improved with a full-service gourmet kitchen. This is one of seven regional Salesforce hubs worldwide.

Salesforce Tower Atlanta’s technology-driven, B2B tenant roster at Salesforce Tower includes RentPath’s corporate headquarters, Rubicon, SAS Institute, Ademco, Soltech and Carat.

Todd Liker, managing director at Oaktree, says, “Salesforce Tower is a prime example of our strategy of purchasing buildings in high-growth submarkets and seeking to create value by investing strategic capital to attract world-class tenants.”

KKR and Banyan Street Capital are planning an additional $5 million in capital improvements that they state will address enhancements to the fitness center, retail concourse, outdoor plaza and tenant elevator landings and corridors.

“We’re long term believers in the Atlanta growth story,” says Roger Morales, KKR member and head of commercial real estate acquisitions in the Americas. “We believe Atlanta’s young and educated workforce and affordable cost of doing business will lead to continued outsized performance, particularly in infill, highly amenitized, increasingly 24-hour submarkets like Buckhead.”

Banyan Street Capital, which was an investor in the building prior to the deal, notes that ongoing improvements to the Salesforce Tower will further its position as a top tier destination for talent in Buckhead and across Atlanta.

“We are delighted to partner with KKR in the next chapter of this iconic tower’s history,” says Rudy Touzet, founder and CEO of Banyan Street Capital. “We continue to believe in Atlanta’s momentum and the dynamic ecosystem of the Buckhead office market.”

CBRE’s Justin Parsonnet, Will Yowell, Jay O’Meara, and Ryan Reethof led the marketing of Salesforce Tower on behalf of the seller. They were supported by the property’s leasing team, CBRE’s Chris Port and Nicole Goldsmith, who completed nearly 1 million square feet of leasing at the property since taking over leasing in 2010, as well as the CBRE Global Transaction team led by Brandon McMenomy.

“Our team garnered significant interest in this offering with more than $1.2 billion of capital pursuit from a broad spectrum of highly qualified domestic and cross-border capital,” says Parsonnet, EVP at CBRE. “Investors were drawn to Salesforce Tower due to its prime location in one of the most dynamic nodes in Buckhead with direct access to the Lenox MARTA rail station.:

He adds that increased densification and transit options in Atlanta’s premier urban submarkets of Buckhead and Midtown have led to a 14.2% increase in rents year-over-year, which is the strongest increase in the Americas and ranks in the Top 20 globally.

\CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance team of Jonathan Rice, Tom Traynor and C.J. Kelly arranged the financing for the KKR-Banyan Street joint venture. The CBRE team of Port, Goldsmith and Kyle Kenyon have been retained to lease the tower. Banyan Street Capital will manage the property directly.