South Florida Office Brokers Association

Tag: jonathan kingsley

  • Colliers’ Jonathan Kingsley & C&W’s Katherine Ridgway Team Up To Bring Amerant Bank’s Regional HQ To Broward

    Colliers’ Jonathan Kingsley & C&W’s Katherine Ridgway Team Up To Bring Amerant Bank’s Regional HQ To Broward

    A Florida community bank is opening a 12,500-square-foot regional office in Broward County.

    The parent firm of Coral Gables-based Amerant Bank, Amerant Bancorp, has unveiled a 5,500 square foot location in Plantation’s Cornerstone One building. According to a release, Amerant Bank plans to expand into an additional 7,000 square feet of office space in the second half of 2024.

    Amerant Bank was represented in the lease negotiations by Jonathan Kingsley of Colliers International. Atlanta-based Brookdale Group,owner of Cornerstone One, was represented by Katherine Ridgway of Cushman & Wakefield.

    Up to 45 workers, mostly from the commercial and private banking teams, will work out of the Cornerstone office once it is fully operational, according to an Amerant spokesman. Members of the Amerant executive team will work out of the Cornerstone office multiple days each week as well.

     

    Source:  SFBJ

  • Recession Threatens To Slow South Florida’s Booming Office Market

    Recession Threatens To Slow South Florida’s Booming Office Market

    Office deals in South Florida appear to have slowed as companies reassess their growth strategies, a Colliers broker told the Business Journal.

    Mark Rubin, executive managing director of Colliers’ Boca Raton office, said some companies are rethinking their expansions due to inflation and a looming recession.

    “New office requests have been tempered a little bit,” Rubin said.

    It’s a national trend that seems to have just arrived in South Florida, where quality office space is in limited supply. Nevertheless, there has been “a little bit of a pause” locally, he said.

    “This started right before the summer with interest rates,” Rubin said. “The cost of capital went up. I don’t think there’s a significant slowdown. I think there has been a lot more reflection and readjustment.”

    He’s optimistic that there will be a “little more action” after Labor Day.

    “We are anticipating a strong fourth quarter in the form of sales and leasing,” Rubin said.

    South Florida’s commercial market has benefitted from the migration of wealthy individuals to the region from other states. This trend accelerated during the height of the pandemic due to the regions decent weather, absence of Covid-19 regulations, and lack of a state income tax. In the office sector, rents have increased in all three counties as more out-of-state companies seek to open satellite branches in the region.

    Kevin Gonzalez, senior managing director of Miami’s Colliers office, said that the Miami-Dade office market is benefitting most as out-of-state companies expand to Miami.

    “The Citadel news will continue to feed the momentum that we have already been seeing,” Gonzalez said, referring to the news that billionaire Ken Griffin will move the headquarters of his Citadel companies from Chicago to the Magic City.

    That’s clear in the rents office landlords are asking from tenants.

    In Broward County, average asking rents were $37.06 a square foot in the second quarter, a 7.5% increase from the previous year, and a 21.5% hike from 2019. Broward’s vacancy fell by one percentage point in the span of a year to 11.7%, but it was still higher than the pre-pandemic vacancy rate of 9.4%.

    Jonathan Kingsley, executive VP of Colliers’ Fort Lauderdale office, said there was robust leasing activity in the second quarter for most of Broward.

    However, several call centers in the Southwest Broward and Sawgrass Park area shrank their offices or closed down entirely as they either moved employees overseas or had them work remotely, Kingsley said. In those areas, vacancy rates climbed as high as 18.3%, according to Colliers’ figures.

    in Palm Beach County, the second quarter vacancy rate of 9.1% was actually lower than before the pandemic. In the second quarter of 2019, 9.6% of Palm Beach County’s office space stood empty. The average asking rents of $39.24 in the second quarter were 9.1% higher than last year, and 22% higher than rents requested in 2019.

    Rubin said that vacancies in Palm Beach County are limited to older buildings. The newer buildings, mainly in downtown West Palm Beach, are targeting companies from New York and California that “are used to paying $75 to almost $100 triple net rates.”

    That’s caused other office tenants to explore suburban markets outside of downtown West Palm Beach, where rents are comparatively cheaper. But those rents are generally going up as well, Rubin said.

    “We got strong demand. We got limited new supply and that’s obviously pushing rental rates significantly across the board,” Rubin said.

     

    Source:  SFBJ

     

  • Office Complex In WPB Sells For $29.25 Million

    Office Complex In WPB Sells For $29.25 Million

    CBRE has facilitated the $29.25 million sale of the fee simple interest in The Forum, two 10-story office buildings totaling 185,650 square feet in West Palm Beach, to The David Associates on behalf of Triarch Capital Group.

    The sellers were exclusively represented by Christian Lee and Marcos Minaya with CBRE Capital Markets.

    Located at 1655 and 1665 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, The Forum is 90 percent leased to 40 tenants from a variety of industries including healthcare, law, finance and engineering.

    “The future of the office market in West Palm Beach is extremely promising. An influx of new-to-market tenants have contributed to a leasing velocity never seen in this market before, which has put tremendous upward pressure on both occupancy and rents,” said Minaya, a vice president with CBRE.

    “The Forum is exceptionally well located with excellent connectivity to Interstate 95 and access to the city’s major transportation hubs. Tenants are within walking distance to a host of amenities, including an adjacent Hilton Garden Inn as well as the Palm Beach Outlets, anchored by Whole Foods Market and several brand name restaurants. Additionally, the property offers the highest covered parking ratio among its peers,” added Lee, a vice chairman with CBRE.

    The CBRE Capital Markets team also included Senior Vice President Amy Julian with CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance and Financial Analyst Tom Rappa. The property is leased by Colliers International’s Derek Baker and Jonathan Kingsley, who also helped with the marketing efforts.

     

  • Greenspoon Marder Inks 62,000-SF Office Lease In Fort Lauderdale

    Greenspoon Marder Inks 62,000-SF Office Lease In Fort Lauderdale

    Banyan Street Capital and its joint venture partner, funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, have secured a 61,994-square-foot office lease renewal and restructure with tenant Greenspoon Marder, a national business law firm.

    The firm will occupy space at 200 East Broward in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

    The 21-story, 227,158-square-foot office tower sits at the corner of East Broward Boulevard and Third Avenue near a number of retail and restaurant offerings on Las Olas Boulevard. The recently updated office property offers modern amenities, including newly renovated corridors and restrooms, a conference center and on-site cafe as well as views of the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding downtown skyline.

    Jonathan Kingsley, Jarred Goodstein and Ilyssa Ettelman of Colliers International represented the landlords in the transaction. Thomas Capocefalo of Savills represented Greenspoon Marder in the lease.

     

  • Southeast Foods Moves HQ To Miramar

    Southeast Foods Moves HQ To Miramar

    Southeast Food Distribution has moved its corporate office from Miami Gardens to the Miramar Park of Commerce.

    With the move to the park, the distributor will house all corporate operations, including its Southeast Frozen Foods, Southeast Wholesale Foods and The American Logistics Group divisions, under one roof.

    “Our new offices will be strategically located between both our Southeast Frozen Foods’ distribution center and our Southeast Wholesale Foods’ distribution center,” said Rich Bauer, president/CEO of the company, in a news release. “We chose MPC for its strategic location and its aesthetically pleasing and safer environment. The location also provides a good labor pool and access to many hotels and restaurants for our visitors and associates.”

    Maridee Bell and Ryan Goggins of Sunbeam Properties, along with Jonathan Kingsley of JLL, represented the Park in the transaction. Representing Southeast Frozen Foods were Lee Katsikos of The Katsikos Group and Michael Sigerman, PA.

    Source:  SFBJ

  • Downtown Fort Lauderdale Office Tower Trades For $32.5 Million

    Downtown Fort Lauderdale Office Tower Trades For $32.5 Million

    CBRE arranged the sale of Comerica Tower, also known as Plaza 100, a Class A, 166,098-square-foot boutique office tower located at 100 NE 3rd Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

    Brookwood Financial Partners of Beverly, Massachusetts, acquired the 11-story downtown tower from Beacon Investment Properties of Hallandale Beach for $32,500,000, or $196 per square foot.

    In August 2013, Brookwood purchased Plantation office building Lakeside Office Center, located at 600 N. Pine Island Road.

    Comerica Tower, which features an above-market parking ratio of 3.5 per 1,000 square foot, was 82% leased at the time of the sale.  The property has benefited tremendously from robust leasing activity in downtown Fort Lauderdale over the last two years.

    “Downtown Fort Lauderdale absorption has been led by a migration of tenants from the suburbs to the CBD. This has been a national trend, where possible, as employers find it easier to attract and retain higher level talent to urban locations,” explained CBRE Vice Chairman Christian Lee.

    Mr. Lee noted that Beacon Investment Properties owned Comerica Tower for two years, increased occupancy from 69% to 82% during its ownership and sold it when it realized the company’s investment objectives for the property. “While Beacon is widely known for its disciplined and expedited acquisition strategies, it was just as responsive as a seller,” Mr. Lee said.

    Ariel Bentata, co-founder and managing partner of Beacon, commended Brookwood Financial “for being an astute investor. The buyer performed as anticipated on all aspects of the acquisition and we feel confident this exceptional office tower and its tenants will be in very good hands.”

    Comerica Tower is centrally located in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s walkable “live, work, recreate and educate” vibrant cosmopolitan core, within walking distance of numerous shops, restaurants and over 3,500 multi-family units that are either under construction or planned.

    “Of this multi-family activity, 1,850 units are north of Broward Boulevard in close proximity to the property,” added José Lobón, CBRE Senior Associate. “This area is now a young and hip enclave, home to neighborhoods such as Progresso Village, Flagler Village and F.A.T. (Flagler Art & Technology) Village, and amenities such as the new Fresh Market supermarket, and numerous art galleries and cafes.”

    The Miami-based CBRE team representing the seller included Christian Lee and José Lobón with CBRE’s Capital Markets Institutional Group; and Charles Foschini and Chris Apone with CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance Group.

    Assisting the CBRE Team was the CBRE Office Leasing team of Deanna Lobinsky and Travis Herring, and JLL office leasing broker Jonathan Kingsley.

     

  • Commercial Boulevard Office Vacancies Soaring

    Commercial Boulevard Office Vacancies Soaring

    The office market along the heart of uptown Fort Lauderdale’s Commercial Boulevard offers easy access to Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike and good bargains for businesses seeking breaks on rent.

    The mostly older buildings are losing their appeal as tenants leave the stretch for newer and more upscale complexes across Broward County and South Florida.

    Real estate brokers say they’re having to forgo traditional office tenants along Commercial and instead are targeting more medical businesses and schools.

    “We’re chasing the deals, just like everybody else in that market,” said Peter Reed, a broker at Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton.

    Another broker was even more blunt.

    “It’s like hand-to-hand combat retaining and attracting tenants there,” said Jonathan Kingsley, senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle in Miami.

    As businesses recover from the recession, the region’s most prestigious office buildings are almost fully leased. But second-tier properties continue to struggle. Tenants often prefer newer buildings to them because they offer more efficient layouts and high-speed Internet connections.

    Between I-95 and the turnpike, there are 17 buildings in the Commercial Boulevard market consisting of 1.1 million square feet. The vacancy rate is 27.5 percent, well above the 16.5 percent vacancy for all of Broward, according to Commercial Florida Realty.

    A 167,270-square-foot building at 2050 Spectrum Boulevard is almost a third vacant, as is a building at 2101 W. Commercial Blvd. Some of the smaller buildings are half-empty.

    BellSouth, Orlove Pharmaceuticals, Northwestern Mutual and the Katzman Garfinkel & Berger law firm are among the tenants to leave the Commercial Boulevard market in recent years.

    Katzman Garfinkel leased 18,000 square feet at 1501 NW 49th Street for about three years but left in 2011 when it bought a larger building in Margate.

    Along Commercial, the firm often found its parking spaces filled by students from a local college, said Donna Berger, managing partner of Katzman Garfinkel. What’s more, the layout of the building was inconvenient, she said.

    “When you’re running a business, you’re looking for a big space, parking, and for it to be easy for clients and customers to find you — and you want them to be comfortable when they get there,” Berger said. We had a happy home there for years, but at the end of the day, we just outgrew it.”

    Competition from the Cypress Creek market and other complexes in southwestern Broward will make it difficult for Commercial to make a comeback, brokers say.

    “There really is no great hope for that corridor,” Kingsley said. “We project that it will always be a secondary market.”

     

    Sources: Sun-Sentinel