PGIM Sells Coral Gables Office Building for $98 Million

A trio of investors dropped $97.8 million for The Ponce office complex in Coral Gables in one of the city’s largest sales so far this year.

Intalex Capital, Itero Investments and Greenwall Capital acquired a 365,000-square-foot office portfolio with the 12-story Class A building 2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, six-story Class B building 2555 Ponce de Leon and parking garage at 152 Valencia Avenue, the buyers told The Real Deal.

ACORE Capital provided a $105 million loan covering the acquisition and $30 million in future upgrades.

Property records show Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Global Investment Management was the seller after purchasing the properties in 2007 from Texas-based developer Hines.

Renovations will include modernizing common areas, upgrading building systems, enhancing courtyards and expanding tenant amenities, with an expected completion by 2027.

Jack Henry Kapp’s Greenwall invested through a joint venture with CDS, the family office of the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Carl DeSantis. Bryson Ridgway is the principal of Intalex and principals Carlos Jimenez, Lori Miller Worman, Scott Grubbs and Jennifer Bender founded Itero.

The portfolio is 65 percent leased. Tenants at 2525 and 2555 Ponce de Leon include law firms and financial services firms, including Podhurst Orseck, one of the property’s largest tenants, which relocated from Brickell, and MassMutual, which is expected to move in soon.

The partners said they have had the properties under contract since September and have secured 130,000 to 140,000 square feet of preleasing, with companies signing letters of intent.

Brokers Chris Lee, Sean Kelly, Tom Rappa and Matthew Lee of CBRE represented the seller, while Amy Julian and Andrew Chilgren of CBRE arranged the financing. Hines will continue to manage the portfolio, and Ryan Holtzman and Lena Weeks of Cushman & Wakefield will lead leasing efforts.

The investors said they are bullish on the Coral Gables office market as more companies look beyond Brickell and downtown Miami for more affordable, large, dense office spaces. The submarket is notably home to offices for Apple and serves as the headquarters for banks such as Amerant Bank, City National Bank of Florida and Grove Bank & Trust, in addition to professional services industries in law and accounting.

The acquisition expands Intalex’s South Florida office holdings beyond its ownership stake in the 110 East office tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale, which it acquired with PEBB Capital and CDS for $43 million in 2023.

The deal adds to a roster of multimillion-dollar office sales in Miami-Dade this year.

In Coral Gables, The Alhambra sold for $119.6 million to a partnership of Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, Miami-based Square2 Capital, led by Jay Caplin, and David Moret’s Highline Real Estate Capital. Elsewhere in the county, Chicago-based Sterling Bay sold the 545wyn office building in Wynwood to Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Goldman Properties for more than $180 million, while Moishe Mana, one of downtown Miami’s largest landlords, paid $110 million for One Downtown.

Coral Gables’ Class A office market has a 13.5 percent direct vacancy rate and a 16.7 percent total vacancy rate, with average asking rents of $68.20 per square foot as of the first quarter, according to Colliers. Class B offices are tighter, with an 8.2 percent direct vacancy rate and an 8.5 percent total vacancy rate, while average asking rents reached $54 per square foot.