Hines Buys Doral Corporate Center For 5575 Million

By Marilyn Bowden
Less that a year after buying Airport Corporate Center, Hines Interests Limited Partnership has added to its holdings in the Airport West market with the purchase of Doral Corporate Center for $55.75 million, or $201 a square foot. The deal closed Friday.

"This is our fifth acquisition or development in South Florida in the past seven years," said Hines Project Director Tom Roth, "and the second in the same submarket. We think the Doral area is a terrific growth story.

"There’s a tremendous amount of residential growth in Doral that will propel the commercial market. The city is expected to grow almost threefold in the next 20 to 30 years. Given the geographic constraints of the Miami market, nothing else can be built to the west or east, and that makes infill locations inside Doral that much more valuable."

After increasing occupancy, Mr. Roth said, "we will look at potential development at the site itself, which is 13.6 acres, for retail and other potential uses."

The 276,758-square-foot office center in the heart of the city of Doral consists of two seven-story buildings, he said — Doral Corporate Center One, 8750 NW 36th St., built in 1985, and Doral Corporate Center Two, 3750 NW 87th Ave., completed in 1991. The purchaser of record, he said, is US Office Value-Added Fund 2, of which Hines is a participant.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Jay Caplin, Mark Gilbert and Adam Feinstein handled the transaction for the seller, Florida Office Property Co., a privately held real estate investment trust, or REIT. "This is part of an orderly liquidation of this particular fund," Mr. Caplin said. "It was put on the market several months ago, went through a comprehensive marketing program and received numerous bids. We liked Hines because they know the market and know the property."

The same team handled the $23.137 million sale of the Amadeus Centre for Florida Office in September. Courvoisier Centre, a third of the REIT’s holdings in the area, is currently being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle.

Mr. Roth, who will serve as asset manager and handle leasing along with Project Manager Andrew Pearson, said Hines’s first goal will be to increase occupancy at the property, which is 81.8% leased. Tenants include Citibank, New York Life, Neff Rental, Tyco/Earth Tech Corp., British Petroleum/Castrol Latin America, Medtronic and Thompson Consumer Electronics.

"We are confident we can do that with our local resources and talent," Mr. Roth said. "We also intend to deliver exceptional service to the tenants, as we have done in other locations around the US." Advertisement