Franklin Templeton buys former Stiles HQ

A unit of Franklin Templeton Investments has acquired its new office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale for $30 million, or about $293 a square foot, the company said Tuesday.

Franklin Templeton is set to slip into 86,000 square feet of the 102,246-square-foot mid-rise at 300 E. Second St. next year after its interior buildout is finished.

Up until this month, the building was best known as Stiles Corp.’s headquarters. Stiles, which developed the 10-year-old building, relocated to allow Franklin Templeton to move in. The sale started out as a 10-year lease for Franklin Templeton’s Fort Lauderdale office.

"As a committed long-term tenant of the Fort Lauderdale area market, we are pleased with the outcome of this transaction,” said Les Kratter, senior VP of parent company Franklin Resources, in a statement about the deal. “Since we were already the occupant of most of the property, when it was released on the market, we conducted a financial analysis of a lease versus purchase and decided that it makes sense both strategically and financially to acquire the asset, as we remain committed to the Fort Lauderdale market.”

I first reported the Stiles move and pending headquarters sale on Nov. 30.

The building’s other tenants include Robert Half International, Raymond James and Gov.-elect Rick Scott.

Stiles relocated to 45,000 square feet one block over, at 301 Las Olas Blvd. The 88,000-square-foot building is also owned by a partnership controlled by Stiles CEO Terry Stiles.

Encouraged by the strong response and pricing commanded by the recent $170 million sale of the Las Olas Centre office complex, Stiles retained Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to sell its headquarters building.

"This deal is a testament to the strength of the Fort Lauderdale real estate market, as evidenced by the recent sale of 350 and 450 Las Olas Centre, as well as our ability to execute on our asset strategy, despite the challenging investment climate," Terry Stiles said.


By Darcie Lunsford
From: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/2010/12/franklin-templeton-buys-former-stiles-hq.html