KBS Sells Raleigh Office High-Rise

CAPTRUST Tower. Image courtesy of KBS

In the latest of a string of transactions, KBS has sold CAPTRUST Tower in midtown Raleigh, N.C., to Preferred Office Properties. KBS had purchased the 300,389-square-foot Class A office property in 2013 for $98.4 million in a joint venture with Kane Realty Corp., which will continue as a partner to Preferred Office Properties.

Located at 4208 Six Forks Road, CAPTRUST Tower reportedly is fully leased. The name tenant, which occupies more than 105,000 square feet, is one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisors. The LEED Gold-certified property includes nine stories of office space atop a six-level parking deck, along with ground-floor retail and restaurants. CAPTRUST Tower was completed in 2009, according to information provided to Commercial Property Executive by Yardi Matrix.  

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The tower is one of multiple office buildings in North Hills, a mixed-use development in Midtown Raleigh that offers access to four-star hotels, restaurants, banks, diverse retailers, salons and a 60,000-square-foot gym.

The CBRE team representing KBS in the sale included Ben Kilgore, executive vice president of Investment Properties at CBRE Raleigh; Will Yowell; and Patrick Gildea.

Active seller, active market

KBS has been buying and selling across the nation in recent months. Deals include the sale of an 11-building, $1.2 billion office portfolio; the sale of a Class A office building in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; the purchase of an office building in suburban Seattle; and the acquisition of a Class A office asset in metro Orlando, Fla.

The Raleigh-Durham office market began 2019 with its sixth straight quarter of positive net absorption, according to a first-quarter CBRE report. Overall vacancy fell 127 basis points year-over-year, to 12.7 percent, and Class A vacancy declined slightly, to 9.0 percent. In the 4 million-square-foot Six Forks submarket, average Class A asking rents increased from the previous quarter by 4.6 percent, to $31.84.

More recently, CBRE’s annual “Scoring Tech Talent” report listed Raleigh-Durham at number 10 out of 50 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract tech talent. Key factors were the growth in the 20-something population, high average educational attainment and growth in the number of tech degrees completed in the Research Triangle area.