HFF and Cushman & Wakefield Close $284M Financing for Acquisition and Recapitalization of a 10-Building, 1.68M SF Office Park in Buckhead

Feb 19, 2019 04:20 pm
ATLANTA -- 

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) and Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) announce that they have arranged $284 million in financing for (i) the acquisition of Piedmont Center 14 and (ii) recapitalization of the borrower’s existing holdings within the Piedmont Center office park in Atlanta’s Buckhead submarket.

The HFF and Cushman & Wakefield teams worked on behalf of the borrower, The Ardent Companies, to secure the floating-rate loan through the lender, a Brookfield-sponsored real estate debt fund.

Upon the acquisition of Piedmont Center 14, The Ardent Companies’ ownership within Piedmont Center totals 10 buildings and nearly 1.7 million square feet on 32.8 acres. Buckhead has long been considered Atlanta’s preeminent office market due to its renowned neighborhoods and multitude of hotels, restaurants, nightlife and upscale retail offerings, and Piedmont Center offers a mix of mid- and high-rise offerings in a park-like setting just blocks from the heart of Buckhead and in close proximity to Georgia 400 and MARTA. With a highly diverse rent roll totaling more than 160 tenants and anchored by Kaiser Foundation Health, N3, LLC, and Aldridge Pite, Piedmont Center is well-positioned to benefit from the borrower’s planned capital improvement program and demonstrate strong NOI growth in the coming years.

The collective team representing the borrower included senior managing director Ed Coco and director Matt Casey with HFF and executive managing director Michael Ryan, executive director Brian Linnihan and senior director Richard Henry with Cushman & Wakefield.

“With the acquisition of Piedmont 14, The Ardent Companies has expanded their holdings within Piedmont Center to complement and enhance their previous acquisitions in 2016 and 2017,” said Coco. “Following the recent renewal of Kaiser and additional leasing successes across the park, we were extremely pleased to be able to participate in the efforts to arrange financing that provides accretive capital and simplifies the capital structure as The Ardent Companies continues to execute their business plan to recognize synergies and create additional value at Piedmont Center.”

“Piedmont Center 14 will add tremendous value to The Ardent Companies’ portfolio,” Linnihan said. “The best-in-class office park is located in one of Atlanta’s prime office markets and its poised for continued success in years to come.”

About The Ardent Companies

The Ardent Companies ("Ardent") is a group of companies operating as a privately held real estate investment and asset management firm that combines the disciplines of research and comprehensive due diligence with a commitment to long-term relationships creating compelling risk adjusted returns for investors. At its core, Ardent has an extensive and diverse understanding of real estate, corporate finance and banking that provide multiple investment alternatives (e.g., loan and fee simple acquisition, bridge lending, development/rehabilitation). Ardent has earned a reputation for being a dynamic investor, capable of expeditious due diligence and creativity focused on reaching the closing table.

About HFF

HFF and its affiliates operate out of 26 offices and are a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the global commercial real estate industry. HFF, together with its affiliates, offers clients a fully integrated capital markets platform, including debt placement, investment advisory, equity placement, funds marketing, M&A and corporate advisory, loan sales and loan servicing. HFF, HFF Real Estate Limited, HFF Securities L.P. and HFF Securities Limited are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF). For more information, please visit hfflp.com or follow HFF on Twitter @HFF.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 48,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of $6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

ED COCO
HFF Senior Managing Director
(404) 832-8460
[email protected]

KRISTEN MURPHY
HFF Director, Public Relations
(617) 338-0990
[email protected]

SAVANNAH DURBAN
Cushman & Wakefield, Communications Specialist
404-853-5371
[email protected]