Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners pays $110 million for Liberty Property Trust portfolio

Published June 24, 2015 by Paula C. Squires

In a return to the Hampton Roads market, Richmond area-based Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners has acquired a 1.3 million-square-foot office/flex portfolio from Liberty Property Trust for $110.3  million.

Both companies released press statements on the deal, which includes three acres of land. The portfolio, comprised of 20 office buildings and 2 office/flex buildings, is spread across six major submarkets in Hampton Roads, including Hampton, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.

According to Liberty, a Malvern, Pa.-based real estate investment trust that has had a commanding presence in Hampton Roads, the properties were 89.1 percent leased.

A spokesperson for Liberty said the REIT will retain its warehouse properties in the region, including Bridgeway Commerce Center in Suffolk.

Citing a confidientiality agreement, J. Ryan Lingerfelt, Lingerfelt’s president and chief investment officer, said he could not disclose details of the transaction, except to say that it does represent a return to the Hampton Roads region for Lingerfelt.  The real estate investment and development company has been on a buying spree. It recently acquired seven properties of 195,881 square feet at the Innsbrook Corporate Center from Highwoods Properties, and it bought the 242-room Richmond Marriott West, also located in Innsbrook, a block from Lingerfelt’s headquarters.

Lingerfelt said it will serve the new Hampton Roads portfolio with leasing, property management and asset management services in-house via its vertically integrated operating platform. Commonwealth Commercial Partners, its property management affiliate, will handle the day-to-day property management.

Commonwealth Commercial Partners has retained many of the existing leasing and property management personnel who currently service the properties.

The Hampton Roads portfolio includes:

Greenbrier Submarket , Chesapeake, (five properties): 1301, 1305, 1309, 1313 and 1317 Executive Boulevard. 

Battlefield Submarket, Chesapeake, (six properties): 500, 501,505, 510, 676 and 700 Independence Parkway.

Lynnhaven Submarket, Virginia Beach, (six properties): 200 and 208 Golden Oak Court, 1457 Miller Store Road, 2809 South Lynnhaven Road, 484 Viking Drive and 629 Phoenix Drive.

Hampton Roads Center/Airport Industrial/Coliseum Center Submarkets, Hampton,  (five properties) : 1, 21 and 22 Enterprise Parkway, 5 Manhattan Square and 521 Butler Farm Road.

The acquisition brings Lingerfelt’s holdings to 5.5 million square feet across the Southeastern United States, encompassing 84 office, medical office, industrial and hotel properties.