Law firm pays $5M for Fort Lauderdale office building

A law firm facing the end of its lease just dropped $5 million to buy an office building in Fort Lauderdale, according to a press release.

Steinger, Iscoe & Greene, P.A., a law firm specializing in personal injury, scooped up a 24,976-square-foot building at 2727 West Cypress Creek Road for about $200 per square foot. The law firm has multiple offices in Central and South Florida including its existing location at 2400 East Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale — which it will soon vacate —  as well as offices in Coral Gables and West Palm Beach.

Records show the seller is a Philadelphia-based law firm called Phelan Hallinan Diamond and Jones, PLLC. The company bought the office building under entity Camelot Properties of South Florida LLC in 2011 for $2 million. The building sits on a 1-acre lot and was built in 1979.

Robert Listokin, with Colliers International South Florida, represented the seller. Avison Young’s Mark Rubin represented the buyer.

Owner/user purchases are not uncommon in today’s rising rental rate and low interest rate environment, Rubin said in a statement, as owning a building instead of leasing can reduce occupancy costs.

Earlier this month, Office Depot paid $132 million to buy its headquarters building in Boca Raton. – Amanda Rabines