The sale and lease-back deal of Frederick’s State Farm operations building tops the list of 4th Quarter 2013 CRE sales.
MacRo’s 2013 year-end recap wouldn’t be complete without a “top five” list of the largest sales of the 4th quarter. There were 34 sales transactions of commercial real estate assets in Frederick last quarter, totaling nearly $70 million.
Following are the top five commercial real estate sales transactions for Frederick during the fourth quarter of 2013, ranked by sales price:The list below does not include the sale of several buildings at Riverview Plaza in December, as those sales haven’t been recorded with the county yet so we couldn’t get final sales price data. Those buildings were part of a massive 285-property, $1.1 billion portfolio sale of shopping centers and multifamily properties across the mid-Atlantic, and public financial documents did not break out price-per-property on the deal. We’ll report on that deal in our first quarter of 2014 update.
1. $30,788,333 State Farm Frederick Headquarters – 1 State Farm Drive
In November, State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance, Inc. sold 23 Class A office buildings throughout the U.S. to Lone Star Funds, a global investor of distressed assets, in a $750 million portfolio sale-and-leaseback deal. State Farm has signed long-term 15+ year leases for the buildings; Lone Star plans to flip about half of the properties.
2. $3,520,000 Worman’s Mill Industrial Park – 15 Worman’s Mill Court
First Potomac Realty Trust sold this multi-story Class A flex building to Ritchie Road Investors, LLC in November. The building is over 40,000 SF and sold for $87.89/SF. It was nearly 90% leased at the time of the sale.
3. $2,974,470 Exxon Service Station – 1561 Opossumtown Pike
H. Ruskin and M. Lustbader of Illinois purchased the Opossumtown Pike Exxon station along with 7 others throughout the mid-Atlantic region in October from Mesirow Financial Investment Management; the portfolio deal totaled $28,000,000. The building of 2,856 SF sold for $1,041/SF and sits on nearly an acre.
4. $2,500,000 Avanti Marble & Granite – 3909 Cornell Place
Decorative Films, Inc. acquired this Class A industrial building in Stanford Business Park from Avanti Marble & Granite in December in a purchase and lease-back deal. Avanti will lease the building back for two years, after which time Decorative Films will expand operations into the space (Decorative Films is an owner/occupier of two other buildings in Stanford Business Park). The building is 26,000 SF on over six acres, and sold for $81.70/SF.
5. $2,425,000 Jeanne Bussard Center – 555 S Market Street
ARC Properties purchased the Jeanne Bussard Center in November. The Class C industrial building is 25,585 square feet in size and sits on 3.79 acres. The sale netted $94.78/SF.
If you are curious about MacRo’s 2014 commercial real estate outlook, don’t miss Rocky’s post from last month: 2014 Economic Forecast: Bankers Cautiously Optimistic.
The author: Kathy Krach is a commercial sales and leasing agent with MacRo.