Brookwood Buys SW Florida Office Portfolio

By Scott Baltic

Renaissance Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Brookwood Financial Partners LLC, of Beverly, Mass., has acquired a 15-building, 421,300-square-foot office portfolio in southwest Florida for $43.2 million, or roughly $102.4 per square foot. The seller was AIG Global Real Estate, which came into possession of the portfolio in late 2012, following foreclosure actions against McGarvey Development Co., according to information provided by Yardi Matrix.

The assets make up three sub-portfolios: Renaissance Center, a four-story, 64,100-square-foot Class A office building in Fort Myers; Bonita Bay Executive Center, a five-building, 52,400-square-foot Class A business park in Bonita Springs; and Riverview Center, a nine-building, 305,000-square-foot Class A office park also in Bonita Springs. The portfolio is currently 83.8 percent occupied.

“We were attracted to the portfolio due to its diverse array of both building and suite sizes, which will enable us to attract a wide range of potential tenants, its close proximity to major thoroughfares and amenities, and the improving market fundamentals of the South Fort Myers and Bonita Springs office markets,” Kurt Zernich, Brookwood’s director of asset management, said in a prepared statement.

As of press time, Brookwood had not replied to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

Improvements ahead

Renaissance Center is immediately accessible to Interstate 75 and close to numerous hotels, restaurants and residential developments. Bonita Bay Executive Center and Riverview Center are both on State Route 41, also easily accessible to amenities including shopping malls, upscale residential communities, high-profile hotels and Southwest Florida International Airport.

27200 Riverview Center Blvd. in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Brookwood reportedly plans to make targeted capital and cosmetic improvements to improve the properties’ marketability and quickly lease up the currently vacant spaces. More specifically, the company intends to invest about $3 million in upgrading the properties, including lobby, elevator cab and restroom renovations at Bonita Bay Executive Center Building 2 and “numerous other building and system upgrades” at the other properties, Zernich said.

The southwest Florida office market has an average vacancy of 7.6 percent, slightly down over last year, while both net absorption and new construction are modest, according to Valbridge Property Advisors.

Fort Myers–based CRE appraisers Maxwell Hendry & Simmons earlier this year described the office market in southwest Florida as “tepid” and likely to remain stable.

Images courtesy of Yardi Matrix