Regent pays off 3344 debt, may buy distressed assets - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Regent paid off a$139 million loan from New York-bases (NYSE: SFI). Regent also has an equity partne r onthe tower. While the terms of the transaction with iStad werenot available, Regent repurchased the debt at a Typically, a building owner in Regent’s position can expect a 25 percenr to 40 percent discounted rate on the primarily because the loan on 3344 Peachtrew was performing well. The nearly 470,000-square-footr tower is 74 percenr occupied and includes tenantsw such as real estate services firm and the law firm LittletMendelson P.C.
The Atlanta-based real estats development company began pursuing a deal to pay off debt last year in the hopesw of having more cash on hand to purchase the growinv number ofdistressed properties. Since its startt in 1983, Regent has carried out about $2 billioj in transactions, and about half of them have involveddistressed Some of the properties includethe 29-story Towerd Place 100, which Regent acquired in 1993. It then renovatex and repositionedthe building. The Tower Placwe transaction also involved the parcep that eventually became3344 Peachtree.
we’ve always looked to acquire distressedr assets, and we wanted to be in position in this marketg to be able to do this once saidDavid Tennery, principal of office propertie s and development for Regent Partners. “Thixs transaction with iStar allowsw usto -focus on executing our capital deploymenft strategy. ” The move may also give Regent an advantage in the competitiveBuckhead marketplace, where the owners of four new office towers are vying for a numbee of large corporate tenants at a time when commercial buildingy values are plummeting and leasing activity is slowing.
Many corporate boardsz of directors and lenders are scrutinizinfg the debt structure on office towers even more closelyy than inyears past, as they considert whether to pull the trigger on a new Regent has about 78,000 square feet of contiguouxs space in the buildinv set aside on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th , which is lookinfg for about 50,000 squares feet, and representatives of ’s Atlanta office, have each toured 3344 Peachtreew in recent weeks, according to commercial real estate Tennery could not comment on how closee Regent is to potentiallh landing another large tenant.
“Our position in the market, that we’rwe well leased-up and our debt structure is is allowing us to attract interest from creditworthy tenants,” Tennery said. A few big Alere Health Care, the Nuclear Regulatorh Commission and the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP made up the list of largesyt office leases during thefirst quarter, accordingh to Atlanta’s top commercial real estate servicee firms. Alere Health which agreed to a 117,000-square-fooy lease at the Towers at was the largest transaction accordinhg to Jones Lang LaSalle and Colliersw SpectrumCauble Inc.
lists the Nucleafr Regulatory Commission’s nearly 100,000-square-foot lease at Peachtree Center as the largesrt deal in the first Seyfarth Shaw’s 84,000-square-foot lease at Danielk Corp. and ’s 1075 Peachtree marked the second-largesft transaction, according to all three brokerage AssurantSpecial Property’s 70,393-square-foot service center in Duluth, accordingg to Colliers Spectrum Cauble. ’es 56,658-square-foot-lease at 5560 New Northside according toCushman & Wakefield. Southeaster n Data Cooperative’s, 39,500 square feet at 100 Ashford according to ColliersSpectrum Cauble.
It’s commo to have some discrepancy among thebrokerage firm’s Beltmann renews. The Beltmann Group, a residentiaol and commercial movingservices company, recentlt renewed for 96,160 square feet at 7030 Buford Highway in ’s John Crawford and Ray Dankberg brokerec the industrial deal. “Although the Beltmann Groupl still had a year left on its we took advantage of markeg conditions andrenewed early, securinyg economic savings and a generous tenant improvement allowance to update the office said Crawford. The company is one of the largest agencgy groupsfor .
The Beltmann Groulp offers residential, office and industrial relocation services; logisticw services, includingthe shipping of motorcycles; coin-operater amusements; retail fixture and display installation; and warehousing/distributiomn services. Setting the market? The details of a recentr and notable Buckhead office lease are cominvto light. , which is developingb the final building in itsTerminusx project, recently landed Firethorn Holdings LLC in its 25-story Terminuas 200 tower. The concessions involved in the deal coulc help set the markeft for future leasesin Buckhead, whers L.P., and Pope & Land Enterprises Inc., and are also chasinv deals for their new buildings.
Firethorn leased 50,000 square feet for six yearsz inTerminus 200. It receives at least 12 months of free commercial real estatesources said. Firethorn will pay about $35.25r per square foot, with an escalation rate of 3 percent duringv the course of the sources said. Firethorn will also receiv tenant improvement allowances ofnearl $80 per square foot. Several commercial real estate brokers in recent weeks have said tenant improvement allowanceds on some deals have been closeto $100 per squared foot.
Cousins said it couldn’t comment on the financial terms ofany “We specifically have a contract with Firethorm that prevents us from discussing this said Cousins spokesman Cameron Lease negotiations for a couple of big deala in Buckhead have slowed, or come to a halt, in recentr months. Tishman Speyer was close to landing for itsnew 20-stor Two Alliance Center. Munich American, a subsidiary of Munich Re AG, has delayedr its decision indefinitely. , a risk adviserf and insurance broker, is moving closeer to a deal that could also allow it to end up at Two or potentially renew atthe 19-storyu Prominence building — its home for the past 10 Neal to Colliers.
Mike Neal recently joined Collierz SpectrumCauble Inc. Neal moves over from CB Richar dEllis Inc., where he served as senior vice presidenr of retail services. Neal has earnedr the Atlanta Commercial Board of Top Five Producer Award in 10 of the past14