Riverplace Tower, the fifth Downtown office high-rise to change hands since December, was sold Thursday to Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners.
The sale price was $29 million.
Jacksonville-based Gate Riverplace Co. sold the 28-story riverfront Southbank tower after owning it for 21 years.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth, which is based in Richmond, Va., said in a news release that the 425,223-square-foot Class A office building has long been a fixture on the Downtown skyline.
“Riverplace Tower offers 360 degrees of unencumbered views, debatably the best in the Jacksonville market,” said John Mason, Lingerfelt CommonWealth senior vice president, in the release.
The deed was signed Thursday and recorded Friday with the Duval County Clerk of Court. Gate sold the property to CFLC Replace LLC of Glen Allen, Va. The limited liability company’s address is the Lingerfelt Companies.
BankUnited of Miami Lakes issued a $24.2 million mortgage to CFLC Replace.
CFLC Replace LLC was registered with the state Oct. 20. Its chief operating officer is Marc K. Furstein, managing director of Fortress Investment Group of New York.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth and Fortress representatives were not immediately available Friday morning to comment on Fortress Investment Group’s role in the purchase.
The sale also includes an adjacent 765-space garage that provides covered access to the tower and a surface lot.
The building is 75 percent occupied, according to industry sources.
Mason said Lingerfelt CommonWealth can accommodate a user looking for up to 100,000 square feet of contiguous available space along with signage at the top of the building.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth already has a significant market presence through leasing and managing the former Liberty Property Trust office and industrial space in Jacksonville since early this year.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth will handle the day-to-day asset and property management of Riverplace Tower through Commonwealth Commercial Properties, a property management affiliate. Jones Lang LaSalle, which is known as JLL, will handle leasing and marketing.
The tower features The University Club at the top. Its tenants include Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc., the Rogers Towers law firm and the Jacksonville headquarters offices for Adecco Group North America.
Gate Riverplace Co., part of Gate Petroleum Co., bought the tower, at 1301 Riverplace Blvd., in 1993 for $7.5 million, property records show.
Gate didn’t market the tower for sale. Instead, the company was approached with offers. The market was heating up because four Downtown towers already were sold or for sale.
Also on the Southbank, the Aetna Building sold in December. On the Northbank, the Wells Fargo Center was sold in June, the Bank of America Tower in July and EverBank Center in September.
Duval County property records show Riverplace Tower’s 2014 market value and 2015 value in progress at almost $37 million. Its gross square footage is 630,784 square feet and its leasable area is 425,223 square feet.
At a price of $29 million, the tower sold for $68 a square foot based on its leasable area.
Riverplace Tower was built in 1966 for Gulf Life Insurance Co. Gate bought the property from Gulf Life. Lingerfelt CommonWealth said Gate renovated the property in 1994 and invested in a major renovation in 2005.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth said when the tower was completed in 1967, it was world’s tallest precast post-tensioned concrete structure and the tallest building in Florida until 1972. The company said the tower is the fifth tallest building in Jacksonville.
It also features a café, fitness center, sandwich shop, a child care center and a security desk staffed around the clock.
Lingerfelt CommonWealth said the acquisition brings its total portfolio holdings to about 4 million square feet across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
It describes itself as a full-service, self-administered and self-managed real estate company that spans three generations and more than 57 years in the business.
Through its history, it has built and acquired more than 15 million square feet of commercial real estate valued at more than $1.5 billion, including medical and professional offices, industrial and distribution facilities, data and call centers, full-service and limited-service hotels, elderly house and nursing homes.
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