Florida-based Accesso Partners adds to Minneapolis-area portfolio with $116M office purchase

Real estate investor Accesso Partners bought a suburban Minneapolis office complex for $115.5 million from a fund managed by New York-based DRA Advisors.

Hallandale Beach, Florida-based Accesso added the 500,000-square-foot Towers at West End in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to its nationwide portfolio of office properties.

The firm also owns the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis, which includes the 57-story IDS Tower and the seven-story Crystal Court retail complex.

The two-building Towers at West End complex sits just outside Minneapolis along Interstate 394 in the West End submarket. The two nine-story buildings at 1550 and 1600 Utica Avenue are 84 percent occupied, Accesso said.

MoneyGram Payment System is the largest tenant at 97,000-square-feet, followed by Concur Technologies at 69,000 square feet and Magenic Technologies at 57,000 square feet.

Brian Rosen, chief investment officer for Accesso — which owns a handful of properties in Chicago — said the complex gives the firm a presence in the suburbs of the Twin Cities and is near downtown Minneapolis.

Starwood provided a $94 million acquisition loan, with a potential for an additional $5 million in financing to fund leasing commissions, tenant incentives and other expenses related to the deal.

The company’s portfolio includes 78 office properties covering 15 million square feet. Rosen said Accesso typically targets markets with population and job growth potential. The firm prefers bigger properties and then recruits investors to join them in a joint venture where the investor provides equity and Accesso stays on to operate the properties.

Accesso is looking for an investor to provide 70 percent equity in Towers at West End, Rosen said. The firm is negotiating with “several groups,” he said.

CBRE’s Ryan Watts brokered the Towers at West End deal for DRA and Susan Hill of HFF advised Accesso in the financing.

CBRE’s Samantha Shimak is joining Accesso Services as property manager for the complex, where JLL’s Jon Dahl will provide leasing services.