Florida Capital Markets Group marketed the high-yield appeal of a fully stabilized asset in a Central Florida submarket to out-of-market buyers for successful sale
Lakeland, FL — Avison Young’s Florida Capital Markets Group completed the $7.2 million sale of Citizens Bank & Trust Plaza, a 71,190-square-foot, six-story, multi-tenant office building situated on a 1.33-acre lot at 402 S. Kentucky Avenue in the heart of Downtown Lakeland, Fla. Avison Young Principals of Capital Markets David Duckworth; Tim Callahan; Michael T. Fay, who is also Managing Director of the firm’s Miami operations; and John Crotty, CCIM; exclusively represented the owner in the sale of the property to South Florida-based Geneva Group.
“The Downtown Lakeland office market currently stands at an impressive occupancy level of 97 percent,” said Duckworth. “Due to the small size of the market with limited local capital, fully stabilized assets like Citizens Bank & Trust Plaza rarely trade, and as such, we targeted out-of-market buyers.”
Citizens Bank & Trust Plaza’s ideal location on Lake Morton in Central Florida’s Lakeland is just 32 miles from Tampa and 54 miles from Orlando. The property is surrounded by various lifestyle amenities and is proximate to a mixture of newly-constructed apartments and single-family housing representative of the area’s continued growth and appeal. Lakeland has garnered numerous accolades including #7 on Smart Asset’s “Florida’s Healthiest Housing Markets” list and #16 on U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 “20 Best Places People are Moving to in the U.S.” list.
“At 89.8 percent occupied with several gold-standard government-sponsored, financial, engineering, and law-related tenants, Citizens Bank & Trust Plaza boasts significant in-place income in addition to some lease-up potential,” added Fay. “Regional investors were drawn to the higher yield of the property compared to similar properties in larger metro areas. Ultimately, we closed the deal with The Geneva Group, our second transaction this year with this buyer.”
Avison Young’s South Florida operations provide best-in-class services to local, national and international clients while also networking with the firm’s other offices across the U.S. and Canada. For more information about Avison Young, please contact Mr. Duckworth at (954) 938-1806 or visit www.avisonyoung.com.
Avison Young is the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,400 real estate professionals in 80 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing, and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial, multi-family, and hospitality properties.