ST. LOUIS—Tryperion Partners has just acquired a 637,000-square-foot class A office portfolio of six properties located throughout suburban St. Louis. Tryperion partner Joseph Kessel told GlobeSt.com that the portfolio is over 90% leased under long-term leases and includes the national headquarters for Energizer Holdings and Panera Bread, and regional headquarters for Equifax and New Balance.
“Generally speaking, we were attracted to the tenants that comprise this portfolio,” Kessel said. However, the Los Angeles-based fund, which largely focuses on western markets, was also impressed with the health and diversity of the metropolitan area's office market. The submarkets surrounding the central city have been particularly impressive. “If you look at where the growth has been concentrated in St. Louis, generally it's been in the suburbs, especially the western suburbs.” He cited Town and Country, a suburb about 12 miles west of the city, as a standout, along with St. Charles County, which spreads out north and west of St. Louis.
“We felt they had consistent demand drivers,” he added, including healthcare providers and corporate headquarters that serve the Midwest region. “It's a fairly well diversified economy.” But unlike the downtowns of other Midwestern cities, the CBD in St. Louis has not had much of a revival, or “experienced the New Urbanism feel. It's more of a suburban office market.”
The portfolio was put on the market over the summer, but did not attract a lot of attention, said Kessel. The acquisition was completed in two separate transactions – two buildings totaling about 252,000-square-feet in the Maryville Centre office campus in Town and Country were acquired with financing from John Hancock Life Insurance Company, and four buildings totaling about 385,000-square-feet in Sunset Hills and Maryland Heights, both western suburbs, were acquired with financing from Wells Fargo. The exact terms of the deal have not yet been released.
Although Tryperion is well-known as a buyer of value-added properties, Kessel said it also “has the ability to buy core-plus assets” such as this portfolio, especially the Maryville properties, which he called quite “stabilized.” However, some of the other buildings may get cosmetic upgrades to give them a better look and help get rid of the few remaining vacancies.
Tryperion has retained Tom Ray and Art Kerckhoff of CBRE as listing agents for the Maryville assets, and Jay Holland and Piers Pritchard of Cassidy Turley as listing agents for the Sunset Hills and Maryland Heights group. CBRE will manage the portfolio.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
