Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners acquires 14 properties in Greensboro from Highwoods Properties

 Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners announced Monday that it has purchased 14 properties totaling 379,000 square feet in Greensboro, N.C. While the Henrico-County based firm did not disclose the seller, Highwoods Properties Inc., a Raleigh-based real estate investment trust, confirmed that it sold the portfolio in Greensboro for $28.2 million.

The portfolio includes office and flex property located in three business parks: Deep River Corporate Center, West Friendly Business Park, and Air Park West. According to Highwoods, the properties are predominantly single-story and are, on average, 92.5 percent leased.

“While our Greensboro assets are performing very well, as we have in a number of our other markets, we are taking advantage of the strong capital markets environment to prune from the bottom of our portfolio,” Ed Fritsch, president and CEO of Highwoods, said in a statement.

Year to date, the company has sold $158.8 million of non-core buildings. Highwoods said the completion of the Greensboro sale is expected to generate $2 million in cash and $2.7 million in GAAP net operating income for full year 2014. 

In last August, Highwoods sold a seven-property office portfolio to Lingerfelt within the Innsbrook Corporate Center in Henrico County. That transaction totaled nearly 200,000 square feet.

The Greensboro properties are home to corporations including R.F. Micro, Mack Truck World Headquarters, Volvo Group North America and Berkley Insurance.


“We’ve had our sights set on the North Carolina region for some time, including markets such as the Triad Region, Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte,” Ken Strickler, senior vice president at Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners, said in a statement.  “This acquisition is yet another opportunity for us to grow our portfolio with more institutionally maintained, well-located assets in markets we believe are poised for long-term recovery and growth.” 

 



Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners said it will handle the day-to-day asset and property management through Commonwealth Commercial Partners, a property management affiliate that has opened an office in Greensboro. Triad Commercial Properties will handle the leasing and marketing for the portfolio.

The Greensboro acquisition marks Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners’ first entry into the Carolinas in several years and brings its overall portfolio holdings to roughly 3 million square feet, including nearly 50 assets across four states in the Atlantic and Southeast.