Connecticut's Greenfield Partners pays $78M for Wells Fargo Center

BUYER: 100 South Ashley Property Owner LLC (senior vice president: Barry Marcus), Westport, Conn.
SELLER: FRDGS I LLC
PROPERTY: 100 S. Ashley Drive, Tampa
PRICE: $78 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $44.8 million, December 2012
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Foley & Lardner LLP, Jacksonville

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Connecticut real estate investment firm Greenfield Partners purchased the 22-story Wells Fargo Center and connected nine-story, 515-space parking garage for $78 million.

The price equated to $200 per rentable square foot of the office space. 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 on a 1.47-acre site at the southeast corner of Whiting Street and South Ashley Drive, the office tower features 389,608 square feet of rentable office space. Originally built in 1985, it is LEED Gold certified and contains a fitness center, cafe and conference center. Anchor tenants include Wells Fargo, Phelps Dunbar LLP and UBS.

Greenfield Partners declined to comment on the purchase.

The seller, a joint venture of Feldman Equities and Tower Realty Partners, purchased the office building, which was 77% leased, in January 2013. The joint venture upgraded the amenity package and renovated the conference center, garage, bathrooms and common corridors. In March, the owners announced the building was 93% occupied after adding several new tenants including Regus and LGI Homes.

Christian Lee, Dale Peterson, Charles Foschini and Marcos Minaya of CBRE Capital Markets, Institutional Properties team, represented the seller.

“The investment community believes that rent spikes are near, and they are eager to get into the market before it gets really expensive,” Lee says in a press release.

At the same time, Peterson attributed the sale price to the prior owner's $6 million capital investment in the building and the resulting improvement in the building's occupancy.

Created in 1997, Greenfield Partners manages the capital of its principals and limited partners, including state and corporate pension plans, university endowments, private foundations and high net worth individuals.