Among the investors interested in acquiring Perkins Rowe is the Atlanta-based development company Songy Highroads, whose owner, David Songy, is a Louisiana native and close friend of local developer Mike Wampold.
A spokesman for Songy Highroads confirms the company is carefully eyeing the 711,000-square-foot property, which went on the market in May and has no listing price. But spokesman Thornton Kennedy says the firm “has not yet determined whether it will make a bid at this time.” Bids are due one week from today.
Wampold, who has invested in several projects with Songy—including a portfolio of seven local office buildings Songy Highroads acquired in 2013—says he would consider investing in Perkins Rowe if Songy Highroads were to snag the property for what he considers a good price.
“If they can get it at the right number, it’s an attractive investment,” Wampold says. “Would it be a good property if someone overpaid for it? Probably not.”
Wampold declines to say what he considers an attractive price to be. Nearly two years ago, shortly before lenders took back Perkins Rowe from developer Tommy Spinosa, the development was appraised for $103.4 million. Its projected net operating income for 2013 was $4.5 million, and its capitalization rate was 7.25%.
At the time, however, Perkins Rowe was caught in a four-year-long foreclosure battle, and a lot has happened since then. The property’s 128,000 square feet of office space is more than 94% leased, and its 375,000 square feet of retail space is 85% leased. Owner TSSP has spent millions on upgrades and improvements to the development, not including the $2 million it spent acquiring the water-chilling plant for the tenants’ air conditioning system.
Sources familiar with the property now believe it could fetch as much as $175 million to $180 million. The property is being listed by HFF of Dallas, which has declined to comment on the bid process.
—Stephanie Riegel
