Hertz Investment Group, the owner of Jacksonville’s tallest office tower, is considering a few more acquisitions on the Downtown Northbank.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based group bought the 42-floor Bank of America Tower in July and now is considering a purchase of the 22-story One Enterprise Center and the 18-floor BB&T Tower.
“We are looking at Enterprise Center and BB&T through their respective special servicers,” said James Ingram, the company’s executive vice president and chief information officer.
Hertz has not made an offer on either building, he said.
The significance of Hertz’s interest is that those two structures are the only Class A Northbank Downtown high-rises that haven’t been sold since mid-2014.
Both have faced financial challenges. One Enterprise Center, which lost anchor tenant Wells Fargo four years ago and is 56 percent vacant, was foreclosed and is back in the hands of its lenders. U.S. Bank is the trustee and CWCapital Asset Management is the special servicer.
U.S. Bank also filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the group that owns BB&T Tower at 200 W. Forsyth St.
The lawsuit, filed in July and pending in Duval County Circuit Court, contends the group of five investment firms defaulted on a $31.4 million mortgage loan on the property.
It says the owners owed the full balance of $31.4 million when the July 2007 loan matured in July 2014.
The building was purchased by the group in June 2007 for $30.05 million, according to Duval County Property Appraiser records. Those records show the current appraised value of the 281,345-square-foot building, is $17.6 million.
The other Downtown towers on the Southbank and Northbank to sell since late 2013 are:
• Aetna Building, $55.5 million, December 2013
• Wells Fargo Center, $79 million, June 2014
• Bank of America Tower, $88 million, July
• EverBank Center, $47.4 million, September
• Riverplace Tower, $29 million, October
• 550 Water Street, $30 million, December
• SunTrust Tower, $31.1 million, March
Hertz this week announced the largest acquisition in its history.
Hertz said Monday it paid $417.5 million for six Class A office buildings, totaling more than 3 million square feet of space, throughout the Southeast from Equity Commonwealth.
Among the Central Business District purchases, Hertz bought a 51-story tower in New Orleans, a 30-story building in Birmingham, a 17-story high-rise in Columbia, S.C., and a 21-story structure Greensboro, N.C.
The other properties were suburban offices. In all, the six properties have an 87 percent occupancy rate.
Founded in 1977, the Hertz Investment Group has acquired and managed more than 100 properties throughout the United States.
Sutton Place at Windsor Parke considers second phase
If it’s built and if it’s speculative, the next phase of Sutton Place at Windsor Parke in Southside could be one of the few spec office buildings to reach the market in some time.
If it does, it reflects emerging confidence among developers to invest money with the expectations that tenants will want to lease the space.
Jacksonville-based Steinemann & Co. Real Estate is taking steps toward development of 150,000 square feet of office space designed as two connected buildings.
It’s a suburban project at northeast Butler and Hodges boulevards, at 13901 Sutton Park Drive S.
The Phase 2 project is in review at the city and the St. Johns River Water Management District.
CEO Frank “Duke” Steinemann said Tuesday he could not provide any details, including whether the structure would be speculative or if a tenant was in tow. He also declined to provide a time frame for development.
“We’re just going through the permitting process,” he said.
Prosser Inc. is the civil engineer for the project.
It would join the completed first phase, comprising 169,000 square feet of office space.
Those structures were built in 2000 and 2005 and are assessed at a value of $17.2 million.
The entire site is 19.5 acres.
Wendy’s hiring 80 managers
Meritage Hospitality Group, which owns and operates Wendy’s of Florida, wants to hire 80 managers in the metro area and will hold open interviews through Thursday at five restaurants in Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The interviews will be 8-10 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. at the Wendy’s restaurants at 12911 Atlantic Blvd., 4453 Southside Blvd., 6021 Argyle Forest Blvd., 13929 Bartram Run Drive and, in St. Augustine, at 3531 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd.
To apply online, visit wendysofflorida.com.
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