Business Specialties Investments
Wells REIT II Buys Atlanta Office Campus in AT&T Sale-Leaseback
May 9, 2008
By: Amanda Marsh, Associate Editor

Wells REIT II has acquired a five-building, 1 million-square-foot office campus in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, through a long-term sale-leaseback with AT&T. The campus will headquarter AT&T Wireless' operations in the city. The transaction's terms were not disclosed.

The property is located in the Lenox Park office park (pictured) on Lenox Park Boulevard, between Peachtree Road and Interstate 85. AT&T Services Inc. and its subsidiaries will occupy all five of the buildings under new leases running from 10 to 15 years. The buildings were constructed between 1992 and 2002 and range from four to 12 floors.

"It's a credit tenant and a quality location, so it was a deal that was right in the middle of our target," said Keith Willby, senior vice president of acquisitions, who represented Wells REIT II in-house. Buckhead is one of Atlanta's most-sought after office submarkets, with an 11.7 percent vacancy rate and average rental rates of $27.57 per square foot, according to Colliers Spectrum Cauble.

Jay Koster, senior managing director of Staubach Capital Markets, represented AT&T in the deal.

The campus is not the only Wells REIT II-owned buildings AT&T occupies; it also occupies offices at Emerald Point in Oakland, Calif., and the Sterling Commerce building in Irving, Texas.

In Atlanta, Wells REIT II owns the One Glenlake office building in the Central Perimeter, four buildings in the Wildwood office park in the Northwest submarket, and the New Manchester One industrial facility in Douglasville. The company also announced in October that it had joined forces with Greenstone Properties, Granite Properties and Pope & Land Enterprises to become the majority owner of the $100 million Three Glenlake, One Glenlake's sister building, which will be Newell Rubbermaid's new headquarters.

With the purchase, Wells REIT II now owns 77 buildings in 23 states and Washington, D.C., totaling more than $4 billion and covering 18 million square feet. Across the portfolio, Wells REIT II properties are 98 percent leased.


 
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