Adventus Expands Atlanta-Area Office Footprint

By Gail Kalinoski

TownPark Commons

Adventus Realty Services has made its fourth purchase in Georgia with the acquisition of TownPark Commons from TSP TownPark LLC. The Canadian real estate investment company that focuses on suburban office markets in the Chicago and Atlanta areas picked up the 350,000-square-foot, Class A office campus in Kennesaw, Ga., for about $73.3 million.

The sale of TownPark Commons, located on 22.2 acres in the Town Park mixed-use development, was a private, off-market transaction made through the Vancouver, B.C.-based firm’s Adventus Opportunity Fund.

The deal included the 85,482-square-foot 125 TownPark Drive, the 92,127-square-foot 175 TownPark Drive, the 85,402-square-foot 225 TownPark Drive and the 86,226-square-foot 500 TownPark Lane, according to Yardi Matrix data. The four four-story buildings were constructed in phases in 1997 and 1998.

The portfolio is currently 99 percent leased to a diverse roster of national and international tenants, including Enercon Services Inc., an engineering consulting firm, HCC Life Insurance Co. and Invista, a manufacturing company.

The acquisition brings Adventus’ portfolio to 1.2 million square feet of space in the Atlanta area. In January 2016, Advantus made its first purchase in the region with the acquisition of Barrett Lakes Center, a three-property, 320,000-square-foot Class A office development in Kennesaw’s Town Center submarket. At that time, Adventus executives said they were attracted to the Atlanta market because of its strong, diverse economy, the low cost of doing business and its higher-than-average long-term job growth rate.

Matt Tritschler, executive managing director of NKF Capital Markets, represented the buyer and Eastdil Secured represented the seller. The seller acquired the property in September 2015 for $55 million through its TSP Value and Income Fund, a value-add real estate fund managed by Transwestern Investment Group. TSP TownPark LLC had acquired the campus from MetLife Real Estate Investment and funded it with a $41.4 million five-year loan originated by the Lincoln Financial Group, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Suburban markets hot

“Both the Atlanta and Kennesaw office markets continue to experience rapid job growth, rising rental rates and decreasing vacancy,” Tritschler said in a prepared statement. “And the appeal of this private, off-market sale is bolstered by its convenient access to I-75 and I-575, as well as its proximity to Kennesaw State University and an abundance of major employers.”

Cushman & Wakefield, in its Marketbeat Atlanta Office Q1 2018 report, stated, “All signs indicate another record-breaking year is ahead for the Atlanta office market.”

The report noted the overall year-over-year rent growth was 9.7 percent, shattering the previous record of a 6.7 percent increase in the first quarter of 2008, led by a 20.5 percent increase year-over-year in the Downtown submarket. Rent growth in the suburban submarkets was up 5.0 percent year over year in the first quarter. In other good news for the suburban markets, Class A office leasing rebounded strongly in the first quarter with 1.33 million square feet of leases signed, more than double the fourth quarter leasing activity, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Image courtesy of NKF Capital Markets