Chicago Firm Grabs A Piece Of West Palm's Office Market
Bradford Allen Investment Advisors has made its second splash in the South Florida office market, purchasing a 39-year-old building in West Palm Beach.
The Chicago-based firm led by Larry Elbaum and Jeff Bernstein acquired the One Clearlake Centre office tower from Rockpoint Group for $45M, according to property records provided by Vizzda. The company plans to pour $10M into renovations for the building, which is 62% leased, as it pursues a value-add strategy.
Rockpoint and partners Tricera Capital, NDT Development and New England Development bought the 221K SF office building in 2021 for $60.7M, Profile Miami reported. Its occupancy hasn't budged since, which could explain why its owners accepted a 26% discount from the price they paid.
“This acquisition not only expands Bradford Allen’s footprint in South Florida but also reflects my partner Jeff Bernstein’s and my confidence in the market,” Elbaum said in a statement. “We look forward to improving One Clearlake and delivering an exceptional tenant experience.”
Bradford Allen plans to upgrade the 1986-built tower with a new roof and renovation to its elevators, conference center, fitness center, tenant lounge and food service.
Current tenants include Truist Bank, Ideal Nutrition and Robert Half. The firm also intends to deliver four move-in-ready spec suites in 2025, according to a release.
Located at 250 South Australian Ave. in West Palm Beach’s central business district, the tower has lagged behind the market, where leasing activity is strong for brand new office buildings like Related Ross’ One Flagler, which opened in February 95% leased.
Direct vacancy rates for trophy buildings in West Palm Beach CBD stand at 2.8%, according to a first-quarter report by CBRE. Tower Commercial Real Estate, led by Jon Blunk and Laurel Oswald, will handle the leasing for the property.
“There is tremendous upside in repositioning One Clearlake for today’s market,” Blunk said in a statement. “As in other CBDs, we continue to see a flight to quality in downtown West Palm Beach, where limited trophy space is available even as the area experiences an influx of prominent employers — a trend that has made it one of the top-performing office submarkets in the country."
Bradford Allen made its South Florida debut in February with the $208M acquisition of Las Olas Centre I and II. The 28-year-old building was Fort Lauderdale’s largest office sale in nearly a decade and was only 69% leased. The company plans to spend $25M to upgrade it.
Rockpoint did not respond to Bisnow’s request for comment and NDT Development declined.
Rockpoint was represented by a CBRE team of Sean Kelly, Amy Julian, Andrew Chilgren, Tom Rappa and Mathew Lee.
UPDATE, MAY 12, 5 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to reflect the price of the sale transaction.
