One Financial Plaza, located at 100 SE 3rd Avenue in downtown Fort Lauderdale and home to the Tower Club and Regions Bank, has been bought for $44 million, or $427 per square foot, by a joint venture of Crocker Partners and Westcity Realty.
The adjacent land included in the deal, on the north and south side of One Financial Plaza, includes some existing retail space, a spokeswoman said. Crocker also has a pre-existing holding, a 1.5-acre parking lot, at 200 S.E. Second St. (catty-corner to One Financial Plaza), which was bought in 2005.
In 2007, Crocker planned the 477,000-square-foot Atlantic Center next to One Financial Plaza, but the project was not built.
In April 2009, the owner of One Financial Plaza filed an application with the Broward County Commission to reduce its office space in exchange for adding 200 hotel rooms, 25,000 square feet of commercial space and 300 residential units.
In June, it was reported that the tower was slated for auction after owner One Financial Center LLC agreed to a $64.2 million foreclosure judgment. The purchase price is a 25 percent discount on the $58.7 million mortgage.
The developer bought the property for $65 million in 2007 and obtained a mortgage in the same amount from Guaranty Bank, which failed in 2009 and had its loans acquired by Compass Bank in a loss-sharing agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Kenneth Simigran and Stephen M. Douglas, who were named as guarantors of the mortgage and managers of the LLC, were not named in the foreclosure. Now, they are back as co-owners, since they are principals in Westcity Partners, which bought the building with Crocker.
The 28-story tower opened in 1972 and is 75% occupied, according to CRE-sources data.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Jon Blunk will market the available office space for lease on behalf of the new joint venture. “Crocker Partners and Westcity Realty both are known throughout South Florida as dedicated and hands-on owners,” said Blunk, a senior director at Cushman & Wakefield. “I look forward to working with them to bring the existing leasing opportunities at One Financial Center to market and maximize the value of their newest asset.”
It’s leasing had previously been handled by Flagler Real Estate Services.
Westcity Realty is a real estate investment group focused on investment-grade assets. Projects listed in a press release were the development and master plan of Weston Commons, a retail and residential development, the acquisition of a 200,000-square-foot downtown Boca Raton office complex consisting of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch buildings, as well as the Veranda at Plantation, a master-planned retail and residential development.
This deal is Crocker’s second this quarter. Crocker Partners contracted to purchase the 420,080-square-foot SunTrust International Center in downtown Miami last month.
With the latest deal, Crocker Partners will be responsible for asset management, with Westcity Realty providing on-site management. “One Financial Plaza is consistent with our long-term strategy of buying high quality assets in thriving major metro markets and adding value through asset and property management,” Crocker said. “It is reflective of the growing pipeline of opportunities we see in today’s market, as we actively pursue acquisitions throughout the Southeast, Texas and metro Washington, D.C.”