November 25, 2014

Multifamily is not the only hot sector in Birmingham as 2014 comes to a close.

While investors poured over $110 million into various multifamily communities in the metro area this month, it is clear Class A office investors are interested in the Magic City’s office product as well.

That could have something to do with Birmingham’s overall Class A office vacancy rate of less than 10 percent, as detailed by Harbert Realty Service’s Dean Nix as the 2014 CCIM Market Symposium.

In the past week, investors have gobbled up nearly 1 million square feet of office space along U.S. 280/I-459.

On Friday, Hollywood, Fla.-based PointOne Holdings and ESJ Capital Partners announced the acquisition of three prominent buildings in the 280/459 submarket that include Blue Lake Center and International Park.

The investors paid $51 million for the combined 377,921 square feet of Class A office space, which will be managed by CBRE, a tenant in the Blue Lake Center building.

Also on Friday, PZUC Building Owner LLC closed on 536,821 square feet of office space that makes up Urban Center at Liberty Park. The Richey Co. sold the property, and the financial terms were not disclosed at press time.

Harbert Realty Services will lease and manage the four buildings included in the purchase.

These purchases come near the end of a year that has seen many office buildings sold to local and out-of-town investors.

Here’s a list of some of the top Class A office deals so far this year.

– Independence Plaza; purchased by Shannon Waltchack for $15 million

– Grandview I; purchased by Keith Hazelrig for $9.7 million

– Cousins/Daniel 600 University Park; purchased by Samford University for $19 million

– Lakeshore Plaza; purchased by Greenfield Investments for $25 million