Boyle Buys Four Highwoods Office Buildings

The Daily Memphian

By Tom Bailey

A deep-rooted hometown company has bought four, premier office buildings in East Memphis from an out-of-state firm divesting itself from the city.

Boyle Investment Co. purchased from Highwoods Properties the three Triad Centre buildings at 6000, 6060 and 6070 Poplar, and the International Place II Tower at 6410 Poplar.

The purchase prices were undisclosed and had not been published yet on the Shelby County Register’s website.

Totaling 599,000 square feet, the Class A buildings offer the kind of touches and amenities that command among the highest rental rates in the city. Among them are features including marble or granite flooring, wood-paneled walls, cafes, fitness trails, leafy campuses and covered or garage parking.

The company with operations in both Memphis and Nashville described the transaction as an “affirmation of Boyle’s long-term commitment to Memphis and expands the company’s presence along Poplar Avenue from Interstate 240 to International Drive.”

The purchase of the three Triad Centre buildings also means Boyle Investment now owns the entire block of seven office buildings bounded by Poplar, Ridgeway Loop, Briarcrest and Shady Grove Road. Those buildings alone total about 1 million square feet.

Boyle hired nine Highwoods employees who have been involved in the operation and management of the four properties.

The new properties will fit seamlessly into Boyle’s existing portfolio, company officials said in a prepared statement. The buildings are in the heart of the East Memphis business district where Boyle already owns, leases and manages a large portfolio of commercial real estate.

The 87-year-old Boyle Investment Co. develops office, industrial, retail and residential properties.

About a half-century ago, Boyle built the 204-acre Ridgeway Center office park that now abuts the Triad Centre. Boyle still owns about half of the Ridgeway Center buildings.

“Boyle has been working on this transaction since October 2019,” company president Paul Boyle said in a release. “Although the closing has occurred during the current economic challenges posed by the efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 virus, we believe the long-term impact will be positive for our community and city as these important assets will remain under local ownership and management.

“These four new buildings are currently occupied by a wide range of businesses, both local and national, and we are excited to welcome these tenants into the Boyle family,” Boyle said.

Northwestern Mutual provided financing for the acquisition.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based Highwoods Properties announced in August that it would sell its properties in Memphis and Greensboro, N.C., and use the money for its purchase in November of the Bank of America Tower in downtown Charlotte, N.C.

Signs erected outside the three Triad buildings list their tenants, including: (Triad I) Glankler Brown law firm, Regus, Vaco, Cook Systems and Apperson Crump; (Triad II) Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Harkavy Shainberg Kaplan law firm, Fidelity National Title Group, Baker Donelson law firm, Waddell & Reed, and The Winchester Law Firm; (Triad III) Lucite International, CBRE, KPMG, UBS, Wyatt Tarrant & Combs law firm, Evolve Bank & Trust, EY, and Dobbs Management Services.

Highwoods owned 15 Memphis office buildings totaling 1.6 million square feet when it announced it plans to sell them in August.

By the end of 2019, it had sold three of them: International Place IV totaling 248,000 square feet for $76.4 million, and Atrium I and II buildings totaling 84,000 square feet for $13.2 million.