Rubicon Offers Trade Center Office going for $70M

By Robert Carr OVERLAND PARK, KS-Two months after arranging a loan for the property, Rubicon Investments has put the 660,000-sf Overland Park Trade Center office building up for sale. The company has hired Sonnenblick Goldman, the company it hired to gain $65 million in loan proceeds, to market the fully-occupied building. Rubicon says it hopes to get $70 million for the property.

Dave Karson, a director with Sonnenblick, tells GlobeSt.com that the Atlanta-based Rubicon wants to get out of the Midwest. "It's the only property they own that's not on the East Coast," he says. The company has owned the building for a year, he says.

The buyer would take over a $55 million loan for the property , and an included $10 million available loan that would allow the buyer to move out a low-rent paying tenant, Karson says. The Kansas City Gift Mart is only paying about $7 per sf for its 230,000 sf, about half of the $14 per sf lease paid by the other two tenants, United Healthcare and MNI Bank. The average lease rate for the area is $18 per sf, Karson says. The health group takes up most of the rest of the building, with the bank taking 25,000 sf.

Karson says the health care company has spent $60 million to expand into all corners of the building with high tech space, and would likely take the space vacated by the Gift Mart. He says he thinks that would boost the value of the building up by up to $25 million. "I think this property appeals to a lot of people. Someone can buy it and just clip coupons, or work to get out the Gift Mart. This is a good opportunity at $115 per sf."

Source: http://www.globest.com/news/899_899/kansascity/160383-1.html