Atlanta-based OA Development acquired Imperial Center Portfolio – the Canterbury, Cambridge, Chelsea, and Oxford buildings – located in Raleigh-Durham, NC for $31.4 million. The four-building, 211,308-square-foot portfolio boasts a front-row location in the centrally located and highly amenitized Imperial Center office park. The asset is leased at 96.5 percent, with rents approximately 7 percent below market value and a tenant line-up that features a variety of industries including STEM, healthcare, and marketing.

The B-quality buildings – built in the late 1980’s – are situated on 15 acres at the entrance of the 456-acre park, located directly on I-40 at Page Road and I-540. The Imperial Center continues to be a notable suburban park due to its proximity to the Research Triangle and RDU International Airport, a region that historically outperforms and outpaces most of the country.

“OA took a creative and unique approach to this acquisition, pairing assets from two sellers to assemble one portfolio – offering investors an opportunity for a dominant Class B investment position among primarily Class A buildings,” said Brian Granath, OA partner. “We are looking to drive value by pushing rental rates higher over the hold period.”

“We are proud to be associated with another OA Development acquisition as they expand their presence into the Raleigh market. The principals of OA repeatedly have proven that they have a great eye for office buildings with a strong performance record,” said Bill Mealor, Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group, managing director. “Similarly, Suntrust has a great eye for top tier borrowers and provided a very compelling loan package with fluid execution.”

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, ROC III Fairlead Imperial Center, LLC and Crown Realty, and procured the buyer, OA. The HFF investment advisory team representing the seller consisted of Scot Humphrey, Ryan Clutter, and Chris Lingerfelt.

Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group (Patterson) arranged the acquisition financing with Sun Trust. This is the 20^th commercial property that OA has acquired in the last nine years, bringing the company’s total square footage acquired to approximately 3 million square feet.