Versant Commercial Brokerage Inc. announced today that it has acquired two flex office buildings totaling 113,035 square feet located at 2425 and 2450 Commerce Avenue in Duluth, Georgia.  The buildings are occupied by Metso Automation USA, Inc., Vensure

Employer Services, Moreland Altobelli Associates, and Videojet Technologies.  Versant sourced the senior and mezzanine debt, and was assisted by the asset manager, Clear Vista Management, and the property manager, Wiedmayer & Co.

Versant acquired the buildings on behalf of a group of former tenant-in-common investors, who own the two adjacent buildings.  The investor group was concerned with its exposure to a single tenant that occupies most of the square footage of the adjacent property.  The investors hired Versant to help them minimize lease rollover risk by acquiring additional buildings and diversifying their tenant base.

"Diversification is extremely important when designing a commercial real estate portfolio," commented Quinn Palomino Principal and Clear Vista and Versant.  "Investors can lose their property if a large tenant moves out and the owners are unable to secure replacement financing.  One way to minimize that risk is to stagger your lease renewals so that the loss of one tenant does not disrupt the investment."

"We want to be proactive and deal with issues before they become a big problem," remarked Penny Treizenberg, one of the Satellite investors.  "Many tenant in common investments were lost when the sponsors refused to recognize and deal with the issues.  Relying on one tenant to make or break an investment keeps the savviest investors awake at night.  As a group, we are always happy to reduce risk."

Versant negotiated the acquisition and assisted in financing the acquisition with low cost debt.  Versant designed the capital structure to maximize cash flow, protect tax deferral, and reduce overall risk.  The new acquisition is accretive to cash flow and will enable management to increase monthly distributions by approximately 8%.