Highwoods buys Independence Park

BUYER: Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership (Highwoods Properties Inc.), Raleigh, N.C.

SELLER: Redus Properties Commercial LLC

PROPERTY: 4110 George Road, Tampa

PRICE: $12 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $14 million, November 2005

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Rogers Towers PA, Jacksonville

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Raleigh, N.C.-based Highwoods Properties Inc. purchased the Independence Park in Westshore for $12 million.

The acquisition includes contingencies, incentives and improvements that could raise Highwoods Properties' total investment to $17.6 million. At least $4.9 million could go toward vacant land and $12.7 million could be for a 117,000-square-foot office building.

The total investment price equated to $109 per square foot for the building and $533,333 per acre for the 33-acre property. It was an all cash purchase.

The vacant land can support up to 524,000 square feet of office space. The three-story office building was completely gutted and renovated in 2009. It was vacant at the time of the sale.

“We hope to have it 93% leased by the end of 2013,” says Tabitha Zane, vice president of investor relations for Highwoods Properties. “It has good-sized floor plates. There are very few large floor plate buildings in Westshore.”

The property was previously owned by a subsidiary of Wachovia.

Including the most recent acquisition, Highwoods Properties owns or has an interest in 14 office buildings in the Westshore submarket, covering 2.2 million square feet. The real estate investment trust also owns 53 acres of other development land in Tampa.