Parmenter to sell trophy office for $215m

Parmenter Realty Partners is under contract to sell the Fifth Third Center in Charlotte for $215 million, PERE has learned. The buyer in the deal is Cousins Properties, a public real estate investment trust headquartered in Atlanta. The transaction is expected to close next week, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Parmenter purchased the 30-story, 697,817-square-foot trophy office tower in 2012 for $163 million as part of its Parmenter Realty Fund IV portfolio. The sale represents the second asset that the Miami-based real estate investment firm has sold from the fund’s portfolio, following the September 2013 sale of 2200 West Loop South in Houston to APF Properties. Fund IV closed on $253 million in commitments and $51 million in co-investment and joint venture capital in 2012.

“Fifth Third Center is a premier and iconic asset and was a solid performer in Parmenter Fund IV,” said chairman and chief executive officer Darryl Parmenter in a statement. “We accelerated our business plan at the property and felt the time was right to sell.”

During its ownership, Parmenter made several cosmetic improvements and upgrades to the building and courtyard, renovated the main lobby, upgraded the elevators and mechanical systems and re-commissioned the building’s energy management system. Parmenter also addressed leasing issues, restructuring the Fifth Third Bank lease, extending the McGuire Woods lease and adding 40,000 square feet of new leases to tenants that include Winstead PC and Insight Global.

Currently, Parmenter is in market with its latest value-added offering, Parmenter Realty Partners Fund V. Parmenter is targeting $500 million for the vehicle, which will pursue a similar strategy to previous funds in the series and acquire distressed urban high-rise office properties in primary cities in the Southwest and Southeast, including Houston, Dallas and Atlanta, as well as the Washington DC metropolitan area.