JV Builds on Previous Success

Forty540. Image courtesy of Strategic Capital Partners

FCP and Strategic Capital Partners LLC have commenced construction of Forty540 II, a 200,000-square-foot office building in Morrisville, N.C. Work on the suburban Raleigh-Durham project begins with a prelease agreement with software firm SolarWinds in place.

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Forty540 II will stand at 710 Slater Road, neighboring sister property Forty540 at 3030 Slater Road that FCP and SCP delivered in 2017. The five-story building will offer such amenities as a fitness center, internet café, rooftop sky lounge and amenity center, as well as a desirable location near Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the coveted Research Triangle Park/I-40 submarket. The property’s central location is likely to prove a key attraction to potential tenants. “Go back and look 10 years ago, 20 years ago and the RTP/I-40  Airport area will be the area that gets the largest office users, and part of that is due to its location and part of that is due to the rents, which are a little more attractive than some of the urban areas,” Richard Horn, CEO of Strategic Capital Partners LLC, told Commercial Property Executive.

SolarWinds has signed on for 80,000 square feet at Forty540 II, supplementing its existing offices at Forty540, where it originally committed to roughly 41,200 square feet in late 2017. FCP and SCP already have a couple of good prospects for a portion of the 60 percent of the new project that remains available, according to Horn. “In light of some trends where office users are driven away from the suburbs, the RTP/I-40 submarket, offering modern space with lots of amenities, is still getting more than its fair share of tenants and we expect that to continue,” he added. CBRE is spearheading leasing activity at Forty540 II. The firm represented the ownership in the lease transaction with SolarWinds, while JLL stood in for the tenant.

Immediate goals

FCP and SCP aren’t talking long-term plans for Forty540 II just yet. “We want to finish it on time and on budget, lease it up and go from there,” said Horn. However, history indicates that the partners are not averse to parting with newly developed assets. In April 2019, FCP and SCP sold Forty540 to lead tenant Align Technology Inc. in a $58.1 million transaction. It was an unanticipated trade; Align had expanded at the 200,000-square-foot Forty540 repeatedly before approaching the ownership with an offer to acquire the building.

Forty540 II is on schedule to reach completion in mid-2021. SolarWinds plans to set up shop in its new space in the summer of 2021.