The Hertz Investment Group, a California-based real estate investment and management group that focuses on downtown revitalization, bought the Bank of America Tower today in Downtown Jacksonville for $88 million.
Miami-based Parmenter Realty Partners, which sold the tower, announced the sale today on its website.
Jubeen Vaghefi and Jeff Morris of JLL represented Parmenter in the sale.
“During our ownership of the Bank of America Tower, we made significant improvements on the building’s sustainability, and the building became the first office tower in Jacksonville to achieve LEED certification in 2011,” said Darryl Parmenter, chairman and chief executive officer of Parmenter Realty Partners, in the release.
“Our investment in a number of physical and procedural improvements, and undertaking energy conservation measures, resulted in measurable utility savings for the building,” he said.
The 42-story Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St., Jacksonville’s tallest building, has been for sale at least since February. It last sold in 1999 for $74.7 million
The tower carries a $65.55 million market value, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser’s office.
Jacksonville Tower Associates LLC, in care of Parmenter Realty Partners, sold the building. The tower comprises 696,672 square feet of space and is 71 percent leased.
The tower was built in 1990 for Barnett Banks Inc., a legendary Jacksonville-based bank that was sold to NationsBank which then merged with Bank of America.
The tower is the second Northbank Downtown tower to be sold this year. The 37-story, 650,000-square-foot Wells Fargo Center was sold June 18 for $75.3 million for the building and a parking garage and another $3.7 million for another parking garage. Built in 1975, the tower is 89 percent occupied.
In December, the 20-story, almost 495,000-square-foot Aetna Building on the Southbank was sold for $55.5 million.
The 33-story EverBank Center on the Northbank also is for sale.
The Hertz Investment Group says on its hertzgroup.com site that it is based in Santa Monica and specializes in the acquisition, marketing and management of “exceptional” real estate properties with a special emphasis on downtown revitalization.
The privately held company owns and manages more than 45 major urban properties, representing more than 13 million square feet of office space in the central business districts of 14 U.S. cities in 10 states.
The website says Judah Hertz founded the group in the late 1970s and has acquired and managed more than 100 properties throughout the United States.
Hertz Investment Group’s 45 current properties listed on its website include several Class A high-rise office buildings in New Orleans, including the 39-story Energy Centre and 27-story Poydras Center; the 20-story Market Square in Indianapolis; the 25-story Regions Bank Tower and its parking garage in Shreveport, La.; and three St. Louis properties —the 31-story Laclede Gas Building, the 21-story Equitable Building and the 22-story Bank of America Tower.
The website says the group has created a record of “astute” investments by “recognizing the benefits of historic preservation, conservation and adaptive reuse, and moving swiftly to take advantage of rare opportunities.
It says it has revitalized some of Los Angeles’ “most cherished buildings,” including the Wiltern Center, the Oviatt Building and the Park Plaza Hotel.
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