If industry sources are correct, two of the three landmark Northbank Downtown towers for sale could change hands by the summer.
Maybe even all three.
None of the three has announced an asking price.
Five industry sources that are tracking the deals, but asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about them, say:
• The 42-story Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St. has several prospective buyers and could be under contract by the summer. It’s been for sale at least since February.
It’s the tallest and the newest of the three, having been built in 1990, and has more than 700,000 square feet of space.
Its 2014 market value is $57.3 million. It last sold in 1999 for $74.7 million.
• The 37-floor Wells Fargo Center at 1 Independent Drive W. falls along two lines of speculation. The strongest line is that it’s very close to a contract, although some sources say the prospective buyer and the seller aren’t reaching terms yet on the price and the deal has cooled. It has been on the market at least since November.
It is the oldest of the three, having been built in 1975, and the smallest, at about 650,000 square feet of space. Its market value is $48 million. It last sold in 1997 for $35.7 million.
• The 30-story EverBank Center at 301 W. Bay St., which has been on the market before but didn’t sell, is in negotiations for a purchase. It has been for sale this time at least since early December.
EverBank Center, developed in 1983, has the most space among the three at more than 956,000 square feet. Its market value is $42.5 million. It last sold in 2004 for $90.9 million.
Real estate representatives declined to provide details of the negotiations.
Jeffrey Morris, managing director of the Capital Markets Group for JLL Americas Inc., is representing the Bank of America Tower.
“I cannot comment on it at this time,” he said.
The CBRE real estate firm is representing the Wells Fargo Center, but broker Michael Harrell did not return phone calls seeking comment on the sale.
Robert Selton with Colliers International is among the team members representing EverBank Center.
“The interest level is high and we are making progress, but that’s all I will comment on,” Selton said.
Pamela Smith, the owner’s representative at EverBank Center, acknowledged the building has drawn serious lookers.
“We’ve had a lot of interest and we are in intense negotiations, so I hope to have something to report soon. But nothing yet,” Smith said this week.
She wasn’t aware of the current status of the other buildings.
“I guess we are all in the same boat,” she said. “It’ll be good when everybody is sold and re-established.”
Smith said tenants like to know there is a “concrete owner.”
The three buildings comprise much of the Class A office space Downtown, which carries a relatively high vacancy rate.
The Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. firm reports that the overall vacancy rate among Class A space, which is the highest quality, was 22.7 percent during the first quarter.
That’s a high number, no matter how it’s viewed.
It’s higher than the Class A vacancy rate on the Southbank Downtown, 11.9 percent. It’s higher than the suburban rate, 14.1 percent. And it’s higher than the overall Northeast Florida rate, 16.7 percent.
Not only is it higher, but it seems stuck above 20 percent.
The fourth-quarter rate was 20.9 percent, and the figure was 23.1 percent the first quarter of 2013.
Individual buildings tell separate stories.
Smith said the EverBank center is 84 percent occupied now, but that drops to 61 percent May 1 when AT&T moves out.
Cushman & Wakefield of Florida research shows the Bank of America Tower is about 68 percent occupied while Wells Fargo is almost 89 percent occupied.
“Downtown is a tough market,” said one of the sources. “It’s hard to look at historically and say how long it will take to bring a building up to occupancy.”
Owners might be hopeful that the December sale of the Aetna Building on the Southbank signaled interest in Downtown investments.
The 20-story, almost 495,000-square-foot Aetna Building was sold for $55.5 million. The building, at 841 Prudential Drive, was older than any of the three Northbank towers, having been developed in 1955.
However, it was almost fully occupied, and the sale price was higher than the building’s 2014 market value of $36.5 million. CBRE marketed the building.
Should a Northbank tower go under contract with a prospective buyer, it then takes 60-90 days for the due diligence period, when the interested acquirer takes a closer look at the property and the deal before deciding to complete the sale.
“I would not be surprised if one or two closed late in the second quarter or soon after,” said one of the sources, indicating June or July.
Should the towers sell, there might be more owners who put their properties up for sale.
“I think everybody is on hold for the next three to six months to see how those work themselves out,” said one of the sources.
If they sell, “there will be a second wave of buildings that come on the market or some might get some unsolicited offers and will say, ‘hey, this is a good time.’”
Smith, the owner rep at EverBank Center, is optimistic.
“Jacksonville is a place that is starting to come around,” she said.
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