Downtown Orlando’s Fairwinds office tower was one of eight premier office buildings that sold Friday as part of a $96 million portfolio spanning eight buildings in both Orange and Seminole counties.
Cross Ocean Partners (“Cross Ocean”), a global asset management platform focused on special situations, credit and hard asset investments, in partnership with CP Group, a leading owner-operator of office properties across the Sunbelt, acquired the 722,456-square-foot office portfolio, which is currently 93% leased.
The sale is the largest office transaction in the Orlando market since the 2024 sale of Maitland Summit to Charles Schwab, and it points toward a continued recovery for the market that was decimated by COVID five years ago.
The acquisition underscores Cross Ocean’s expanding real estate platform and CP Group’s ongoing strategic investment in high-growth Sunbelt markets, where well-located, premier office properties are supported by resilient tenant demand.
Research Commons, a four-story building in the Research Park area, is one of the only privately owned buildings located within the Force Protection Zone and adjacent to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). (Courtesy of Cross Ocean Partners)
The acquired properties span a mix of suburban and downtown office environments and include:
Central Fairwinds at 135 W. Central Blvd., a prominent 12-story Class A tower with direct access to I-4, totaling 169,600 square feet. Built in 1982, the tower features include a new lobby, common corridors, a conference center, employee collaborative distancing areas, and a renovated Cuban-American café.
1101 Greenwood in Lake Mary, a five-story office building fully leased to healthcare tenants, including Health First and Abbott, totaling 155,048 square feet.
Research Commons and Tech Point I & II in Orlando, a four-story building and two two-story buildings, respectively, located within the Research Park area and totaling 188,738 square feet. Serving government and defense users, they are the only privately owned buildings located within the Force Protection Zone and adjacent to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
Ingenuity Point in Orlando, a two-story office building also in the Research Park area, totaling 125,616 square feet.
University Tech Center in Orlando, a two-building flex/office environment supporting simulation, research, and technology tenants, totaling 83,454 square feet.
“This transaction reflects our continued conviction in high-quality office assets with stable income profiles,” said Terence Kim, Managing Director, US Credit at Cross Ocean. “Partnering with CP Group allows us to leverage their deep operating expertise as we expand our exposure to well-positioned properties in strong growth markets, where we believe pricing presents attractive long-term value.”
Ingenuity Point, a two-story office building in the Research Park area, totaling 125,616 square feet, sold recently to Cross Ocean Partners and CP Group. (Courtesy of Cross Ocean Partners)
“Having operated in Central Florida for several decades, our firm understands the market and the opportunity to support and enhance these quality assets and the institutional tenancy they attract,” said Josh Edwards, Senior Vice President at CP Group, who oversees the firm’s North and Central Florida and Washington DC markets. “This acquisition is a strong complement to our existing portfolio, and we look forward to leveraging our experience and local presence to support these long-standing tenants and maintain the historically high occupancy of these assets.”
Notable tenants across the portfolio include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fairwinds Credit Union, Siemens Energy, Galen College of Nursing, Abbott Rapid Dx, Health First, and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), among other leading healthcare, defense, energy, and professional services organizations.
The seller was Vancouver-based City Office REIT, which was acquired and taken private by MCME Carell for approximately $1.1 billion. The merger closed last week, coinciding with the Orlando transaction. Previously, City Office REIT sold a Phoenix-based office portfolio for $266 million to facilitate the merger.
Robbie McEwan and Matt McCormack of JLL represented the seller in the Orlando transaction. McEwan told GrowthSpotter they took a two-fold approach, marketing the properties as a portfolio and as individual assets. “There was tremendous interest in all of the properties, and there were multiple offers,” he said. “Ultimately, the sellers chose the portfolio deal with CP Group and Cross Ocean.”
He said the building locations, strong leasing, and rental rates made the properties especially attractive. “I think there’s potential for updates at some of the properties that could generate higher rental rates,” he added.
CP Group will retain JLL to oversee leasing across these assets, adding to JLL’s existing representation of CP Group’s other Central Florida properties, including Resource Square I & III and Northpoint Center.
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