Property owners seeking a buyer to take a distressed office
building off their hands should consider marketing to corporate
space occupiers as well as conventional investors.
In four recent transactions negotiated by Newmark Knight Frank,
that strategy produced the best returns available for the sellers
and illustrated the impact that corporate users are having on the
investment market.
To market a property successfully to these hybrid
user-investors, it is critical to appreciate how a space occupier's
motivation to buy differs from a traditional investor.
User-investors will consider locations that may not appeal to
conventional investors, in part because a user is less concerned
about the need to attract and retain tenants.
Acquisitions by corporate users are more likely to be motivated
by a desire to drastically reduce occupancy costs. And the net cost
of occupying an asset purchased at today's low prices is far lower
than the cost of leasing space, even if the buyer pays a premium
for the asset.
In recent transactions, office user-investors have demonstrated
a willingness to pay more for distressed assets than conventional
investors are willing to pay.
In addition, this emerging force of user-buyers is willing to
invest in facilities that exceed the buyer's occupancy
requirements. A corporate buyer will want to occupy a portion of
the property, and can lease out unwanted space.
Dissecting the deals
Newmark Knight Frank Capital Group recently brokered four sales
that illustrate this trend. Together, the transactions encompassed
more than 1 million sq. ft.
On behalf of a lender, Newmark Knight Frank sold a Class-A,
432,000 sq. ft. office complex at 290 Davidson Ave. in Somerset,
N.J. to SHI International Corp., a software and hardware
reseller.
SHI concluded correctly that the asset could be acquired for a
price equal to renting the same property for two years at its
current lease rate. The buyer decided to occupy half of the complex
and rent the balance to a tenant or tenants, a move clearly fitting
the profile of a user-investor.
In Ridgefield Park, N.J., Daekyo America bid the top price to
buy the former North American headquarters of Samsung Electronics
at 105 Challenger Road.
The sale generated a premium of $25 per sq. ft. over the recent
sale price of an adjacent office building, which sold to a
traditional investor. Daekyo plans to occupy several floors and
lease the balance of the 150,000 sq. ft., nine-story building.
The former Linens 'n Things headquarters in Clifton, N.J., sold
to yet another user-investor, New Jersey Physicians. The medical
practice group plans to occupy 60% of the asset and lease the
balance.
Finally, in a transaction currently under contract and slated to
close shortly, a corporation with a 30,000 sq. ft. occupancy
requirement has agreed to buy and move into a 320,000 sq. ft.,
Class-A office complex in the New York metro area. Interestingly,
the complex is already 90% occupied.
Corporations are flush with cash
This user-investor trend reflects corporate profits at
historically high levels in some sectors. Many companies have
generated these healthy profits by becoming more efficient,
learning to utilize technology, reducing the number of employees,
or transferring jobs to lower-cost regions.
Such efficiency has the unpleasant side effect of reducing job
growth and, by extension, slashing demand for office space, while
contributing to the currently high vacancy rates.
But many corporations are now in a unique position to take
advantage of the depressed office building values and vacancy rates
they helped to create.
Corporations have seldom seen such favorable opportunities to
buy commercial real estate. Current sales of vacant office
buildings in suburban markets indicate values of approximately 15%
to 25% of replacement cost.
This historically low valuation is a function of depressed
rental rates, weak demand for space, and the need for capital
improvements in many older buildings.
Assuming that replacement cost is $250 per sq. ft., an investor
can now acquire vacant office buildings for $35 to $60 per sq. ft.
By comparison, tenants in suburban markets typically pay $20 to $35
per sq. ft. per year to lease office space.
For nimble and well-capitalized users able to close a purchase,
the opportunity to acquire a building for a little more than one
year's rent is very compelling indeed.
Capitalizing on the trend
The opportunity for corporate users to reduce occupancy costs by
buying a space makes such a persuasive case that Newmark Knight
Frank Capital Group has modified its typical sales program to
include corporate tenants. This is in addition to the firm's
marketing of properties to traditional private and institutional
investors.
In the past, the team typically direct-marketed each investment
property to more than 4,000 investors. By including corporate
tenants, the buyer pool has now increased to more than 8,000
potential investors.
The bottom line is that while the current market is challenging
for suburban real estate owners and their lenders, compelling
opportunities await the astute, well-capitalized corporate
user-investor.
Written by Matthew Schnurr of Newmark Knight Frank Capital
Group in Rutherford, N.J.