Fairlead Commercial Real Estate, partners pay $47.3M for Fifth Third Center

BUYER: ROC II Fairlead Fifth Third Center LLC (Fairlead Acquisitions II LLC), Murray, Utah
SELLER: Terrace Tower Tampa LLC
PROPERTY: 201 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
PRICE: $47.25 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $52 million, December 2005
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Atlanta-based Fairlead Commercial Real Estate LLC purchased the 281,187-square-foot Fifth Third Center in downtown Tampa for $47.25 million.

The price equated to $168 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($118) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Located across Kennedy Boulevard from Lykes Gaslight Square Park and near Tampa City Hall, the 32-year-old building features 19 stories of office space. The property includes a two-story ground-floor lobby, cafe, conference room, tenant storage and a six-story, connected, 244-space parking garage.

Its tenants include Fifth Third Bank, the U.S. Government, financial advisory company Deloitte, business advisory firm Skoda Minotti and engineering firm Walter P. Moore. The building also houses the law firms of Saxon Gilmore Carraway & Gibbons PA; Conro, Simberg Ganon Krevans & Abel and Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman Goggin.

Fairlead Commercial Real Estate's equity partner in the purchase was investment advisory firm Bridge Investment Group Partners, which manages the ROC Funds.

Dale Peterson, Anne-Marie Ayers and Courtney Decker of CBRE represented the seller, Terrace Tower Tampa LLC.

“Fifth Third Center is exceptionally positioned for stable, long-term income growth and value appreciation,” Peterson says in a press release. “It is one of Tampa's premier office assets and has been impeccably maintained with no significant near-term capital requirements.”

Fairlead Commercial Real Estate's Florida office, led by its Senior Managing Partner J.J. Conners, will oversee the asset. Ayers has also been hired by Fairlead as the third-party leasing agent for the property.

Fairlead currently has an additional $100 million of Class A office buildings under contract in Florida, Georgia and Texas and plans to place another $500 million to $600 million over the next 24 months.
The Fifth Third acquisition follows Fairlead Commercial Real Estate's recent purchase of three Class-A office buildings in the Gran Park at the Avenues business park in Jacksonville. The company says it plans to make two more acquisitions in the Southeast in August and September.

“This asset is in the best location within the hottest market in Tampa,” Jeff Shaw, president of Fairlead, says in a press release. “There is a great story of recovery, growth, and reurbanization in this city. This strategic acquisition allows us to further expand Fairlead's focus in recovering markets in the Southeast U.S. with strong demographics, tightening vacancy and rising rental rates.”