The Challenge:

The primary challenge of this listing involved generating buyer interest for a 50% leased office building located in a relatively inactive market. The building, however, was anchored by Bank of America occupying 40% of the total lease space. The bank had been a tenant for over 15 years and had just renewed for another 5 years which added stability to the property, an important factor in attracting an owner-user.

Services:

Christopher provided a persuasive marketing strategy targeting investor/user groups emphasizing the following key advantages to owning versus leasing office space:

1) historically low interest rates make it possible for many small to mid-size firms to acquire office buildings and thereby benefit from lower occupancy costs than they would have from leasing office space;

2) by owning, tenants are immune from the rising rental rate hikes driven by strong market fundamentals;

 3) the emerging landlord’s market means many of the generous concessions and tenant improvement funds available to in the past 12 months are quickly drying up. Together, these factors create an excellent climate for owning versus leasing office space.

Results:

By focusing on owner-user groups, Christopher was able to identify a strong buyer for 4000 Garth office building. Houston-based ESV Properties, LP purchased the two-story property as an investment and for use by some of their existing businesses. In addition to acquiring the office building, Christopher was also able to persuade the buyer to purchase the adjacent 4-acre tract of vacant land owned by the seller that was not on the market. Acquiring the office building and vacant land gave the buyer control of the entire 8-acre corner at Garth and Birdsong, one of Baytown’s most active areas of development.

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