Regions Southeast | Atlanta
JV Snaps Up 460,000-SF Atlanta Office-Flex Campus for $47M
Aug 25, 2008
By: Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Winthrop Realty Trust, acting with joint venture partner Sealy & Co., has acquired a 470,000-square-foot office-flex complex in Northwest Atlanta. The price tag on the six-structure campus was $47 million, including the assumption of a $37 million mortgage loan at 6.12 percent with a scheduled November 2016 maturity date.

Winthrop and Sealy will own the property jointly, and Sealy will handle the daily operations for the joint venture. Winthrop and Sealy did not disclose the exact location of the new asset; however, it sits adjacent to the 12-structure, 472,000-square-foot office-flex complex the partners purchased in 2006 for approximately $35.9 million. Winthrop originally owned a 60 percent interest in the team's previous Atlanta endeavor, and has a 68 percent ownership stake in the latest venture.

In Atlanta, the commercial real estate market does not differ too much from most other U.S. metropolitan markets at this time as it, too, has seen the numbers head downward this year. The average direct vacancy rate for office properties climbed from 14.9 percent in mid-2007, to 15.1 percent in mid-2008, according to real estate services firm Carter. And in the industrial sector, vacancies rose from 10.9 percent to 11.3 percent. Tenants at Winthrop and Sealy's newly acquired property occupy a total 88 percent of the complex's space.

For investors, Northwest Atlanta, in particular, has proven to be fertile ground this year; many of the city's major sales this year were in that submarket. On the office side, the 256,000-square foot building at 1600 Terrell Mill Rd. sold for nearly $32.3 million, and the 203,600-square-foot Johns Creek property traded for $32 million. Industrial/flex transactions included the $22.3 million sale of the 175,900-square-foot building at 1000 Gutenberg Dr., and the $20.3 million sale of the 506,200-square-foot property at 930 Hwy 124

Boston-headquartered Winthrop is a REIT involved in business activities that include investing and making loans secured by real estate, engaging in joint venture investments with local real estate partners, and acquiring equity and debt securities involving real estate as the underlying assets. Based in Shreveport, La., Sealy & Co. is a commercial and investment real estate concern that has been in business since 1946.

 
Recent Atlanta Headlines
Urdang Sells Pair of Atlanta-Area Business Centers for $48M
Urdang, a unit of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the $48 million sale of two business centers in suburban Atlanta to CCI-B Marietta L.L.C., a partnership formed by Capital Commercial Investments Inc. The properties total nearly 14 buildings on 48 acres and comprise 620,000 square feet of office, medical, retail and warehouse space.
BPG Purchases Atlanta M-F Site for $53M
Continuing its search for high-quality multi-family properties despite the tanking economy, private equity real estate fund manager BPG Properties Ltd. acquired a suburban Atlanta multi-family community for $52.8 million from Atlanta-based Post Apartment Homes, L.P.
ProLogis Signs 8 Leases Totaling  946,000 SF in Atlanta
ProLogis has signed new lease agreements in Atlanta in eight transactions totaling approximately 946,000 square feet during the third quarter of 2008.
Federal Aviation Leases 98,000 SF at Duke’s Camp Creek Business Center
Duke Realty Corp. has leased a nearly 98,000-square-foot office building at Camp Creek Business Center, located three miles west of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, to the Federal Aviation Administration.
585,000-SF Suburban Atlanta Industrial Property Trades for $20M
The 585,000-square-foot distribution center at 200 Blairs Bridge Rd. within the First Park Terminus West business park in Lithia Springs, Ga., has just come under new ownership.