Starwood REIT Buys Florida Office Portfolio for $231 Million
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust Inc., a perpetual-life, monthly NAV REIT, has purchased the Florida Office Portfolio, a Class A office portfolio totaling 1.27 million square feet across 11 buildings in Jacksonville, Florida.
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust Inc., a perpetual-life monthly NAV REIT, has purchased the Florida Office Portfolio, a Class A office portfolio totaling 1.27 million square feet across 11 buildings in Jacksonville, Florida. The portfolio was acquired through an off-market transaction for approximately $231 million, excluding closing costs.
Located within the Deerwood Park submarket, the company said that the region commands the highest asking rents and lowest vacancy rate in Jacksonville. According to a filing with the SEC, the portfolio’s average annual rental per square foot rate was $23.92 as of the closing, and had an 88.7 percent occupancy rate in 2018.
“The Florida Office Portfolio is another example of SREIT acquiring high-quality real estate in markets with strong population and job growth,” said John McCarthy, CEO and president. “SREIT focuses on markets with strong growth dynamics because they drive occupancies, rents, and values upward. We like Florida in particular because it led the nation in job growth in 2018.”
He added, “We were also attracted to the portfolio’s diversity of tenants, with more than 65 percent financially strong credit tenants including Fidelity Investments, The Adecco Group, and JP Morgan.”
The acquisition was funded with cash on hand and a $135 million loan provided by Wells Fargo. Vanderbilt Office Properties will serve as the property manager for the portfolio.
In recent company news, last month Starwood REIT appointed Dave Guiteau to serve as its new chief financial officer and treasurer.
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust Inc., managed by subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group, invests in stabilized, income-producing real estate across the United States and Europe. The REIT broke escrow in December 2018 and raised $249.5 million in investor equity as of the first quarter of 2019. The REIT’s portfolio totals $770 million in total asset value across 26 properties.
Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure, and oil and gas, and since its inception in 1991, has raised $45 billion of equity capital. The firm currently has in excess of $60 billion of assets under management.
