Office Investment Sweet Spot
The sweet spot for Miami office investors isn’t Class-A trophies, or older Class-B and C assets—it’s in between, says Integra Investment’s Eduardo Otaola.
Integra sees opportunity in Class A-minus boutique office buildings, in the gap between the scarce and expensive trophy Class-A assets and outdated Class B-minus product, he says. In other words, the Goldilocks approach to commercial real estate investment: not too hot, not too cold. Recently Integra found such a Downtown property, according to Edurado: the 140k SF 200 Southeast First St, which the investor acquired for $21M.
Integra Investments plans to upgrade the building to solidify its status as not-quite A, but good enough to attract tenants. (That's what we used to say about our biology class, not quite A, but good enough to dissect the frog.) Current tenants include Ocean Bank, which occupies the ground-floor space, the Parkinson’s Foundation, Brand Institute, Digiport, and Incubate Miami. Eduardo adds that the Miami’s rising status is also helping buildings such as this one. “Miami’s emergence as a global city has attracted a sophisticated tenant base,” he says. Collier International repped both the buyer and seller in the transaction. Also on the deal was Larry Stockton, who sold the building in 1997, repping Integra, while Michael Fay, John Crotty, Xavier Cossard, and Biscayne Atlantic’s Ben Small repped the seller.
