POWER BROKERS: Adam Palmer

Adam Palmer says commercial real estate conditions in Southwest Florida and beyond were ideal for investment transactions in 2015.

“It was a particularly active year for the investment sector because they could take advantage of an advantageous cost of capital,” says Palmer, a principal and managing director at LandQwest Commercial.

“Many believed interest rates last year were on their way back up, so investors wanted to take advantage of that dynamic, in particular, and lock in properties.”

He points to the $8.9 million sale of 9299 Center building that he executed last year as a sign of the market overall. There, Palmer sold a 42,570-square-foot former grocery store that had been converted to an office building to a New York buyer eager for a steady return with a credit tenant.

9299 Center, on College Parkway in Fort Myers, is fully leased to Lee Memorial Hospital, which uses the property as a call center. Lee Memorial is slated to occupy the building, which was completed in 2004, through March 2025 under the terms of a lease.

Palmer wasn't the only LandQwest broker who was busy in Southwest Florida in 2015, however.

The firm had eight agents on CoStar's list, tied for first place with CRE Consultants. Just as significantly, its Power Brokers were spread over every category save for industrial leasing.

In addition to Palmer, Carlos Acosta, Michael Daly, Ashley Knie, Chuck Smith and Thomas Strauss were ranked. Strauss was both a Top Retail Leasing Broker and a Top Sales Broker, according to CoStar.

LandQwest also scored as both a top leasing and sales firm.