Skip to content

Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT Buys LPL Corporate Campus in 1031 Exchange Deal

Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust, has purchased the two-building LPL Financial Carolinas Corporate Campus for $130 million.

The LPL Financial Campus was acquired with 1031 exchange proceeds from the disposition of the DreamWorks Animation’s Headquarters and Studio Campus, which the REIT sold for $290 million on November 21st. As reported by The DI Wire, the REIT netted an 80 percent return from the DreamWorks property sale.

The LPL Financial Carolinas Corporate Campus is leased in its entirety to LPL Holdings Inc. with approximately 19 years of remaining lease term and 1.75 percent annual base rental rate increases. The campus is one of LPL’s three major national offices and is the firm’s largest by headcount and square footage, with nearly 2,000 total employees occupying more than 450,000 square feet.

“We’ve been focused on the Greater Charlotte metropolitan area due to its well-diversified economy and significant growth over the past two decades,” said Don Pescara, Griffin Capital’s managing director of acquisitions. “The acquisition of the LPL Financial Campus adds to our portfolio two well-located, high-quality buildings leased to a premier tenant.”

Constructed in 2016 and located 17 miles south of Charlotte in Fort Mill, South Carolina, the property consists of two adjacent, six-story, Class A office buildings totaling approximately 452,000 square feet of rentable area, as well as a six-level structured parking deck with more than 1,900 spaces situated on two parcels totaling 16 acres.

Property amenities include a full-service cafeteria with indoor and outdoor seating, a fitness center, an outdoor putting green, community garden and walking trails.

The property is located within Fort Mill’s Kingsley master-planned development, which is less than 30 minutes from downtown Charlotte and offers additional restaurant, service retail, and hotel amenities.

Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT oversees a portfolio of 74 office and industrial properties purchased for a total of $3.4 billion. The company’s initial public offering was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2009. The REIT closed its follow-on offering in April 2014 after raising a total of approximately $1.5 billion in investor equity, according to Summit Investment Research.

Click here to visit The DI Wire directory page.