East West Capital has acquired SouthLake Center in Columbia, South Carolina. The building, located at 714 South Lake Drive in the Lexington submarket, has 41,953 sf of 100% leased office space on 4.62 acres of land.
“We are excited about acquiring our second office building in the Columbia market with the purchase of this beautifully renovated and fully leased single-story building.” said David Moritz, Managing Partner. “SouthLake is located near one of the fastest growing residential areas in Columbia.”
Originally built in 1989 as a cut-andsew manufacturing facility, the building was renovated into a multitenant ofIice building in 1999. SouthLake is currently 100% leased to six quality tenants representing numerous industries. Three tenants, Teradata, Amedisys and Nucor, are billion dollar public companies and represent over 60% of leased space at the property. SouthLake offers tenants a parking ratio of 6.67 per 1,000 square feet, which is well above the market average. Tenants have been trending towards higher density and few buildings in the market can offer a parking ratio that affords this density.
“The spread between the property cap rate and our debt cost is close to 6%, which makes for an attractive investment.” said Brian Nelson, Managing Partner. “With the Columbia office market fundamentals continuing to improve, we believe we are in a good position to keep the building full.”
SouthLake is located in the Lexington submarket, providing convenient access to Interstate 20 and downtown Columbia, as well as the region’s most prestigious residential areas, such as Lexington, Lake Murray, and Irmo. The property is positioned between Lexington and the Interstate which provides great visibility to the many cars that pass the property.
According to CBRE, who acted as agent on the transaction, the Lexington submarket has a vacancy rate of 7.7%. In Columbia, “Confidence roared back in Q4 2015. Tenants were willing to sign longer lease terms, landlords pushed effective rents higher, new startups entered the office market, and many building were positioned for potential investment sales. Asking rental rates have increased 5% from the fourth quarter of 2014.”
East West Capital is an Asheville, NC based real estate investment firm. The two principals have over 35 years of combined experience in real estate, finance and law.