Boyle Investment pays $35.9M for two Cool Springs buildings

By William Williams
– Nashville City Paper –

Boyle Nashville LLC comprised of Memphis based Boyle Investment Co and Northwestern Mutual Life, has purchased for about $35.9 million One and Two Corporate Centre in the Cool Springs area.

The deal is one of 2003’s most significant for the Nashville office/retail market community.

Jeff Haynes of Boyle’s Nashville office and Cary Whitehead of Boyle’s Memphis office represented Boyle, with David Reece of Northwestern’s Atlanta office representing Northwestern in the purchase. Mark DeRiemer of Jones Lang LaSalle’s New York office represented the seller; J.P. Morgan Fleming managed Strategic Property Fund.

Haynes, chief manager of the Boyle Nashville office, said the transaction process started about 90 days ago, with the deal closing Monday.

“Boyle is pursuing high quality office and retail properties in Tennessee, particularly in the Memphis and Nashville areas,” Haynes said. “We believe One and Two Corporate Centre are strategically located in the Cool Springs submarket, which has garnered the majority of office leasing over the past three to five years in the Nashville area.

“Boyle plans to expand the company’s asset base in the Nashville area through development, acquisitions, joint ventures and management projects for capital relationships,” he added.

Located at the northwest corner of Interstate 65 and Cool Springs Boulevard in the Franklin/Brentwood area, the buildings were opened in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The structures contain about 281,000 square feet of Class A office space, with 25 tenants including, among others, Connecticut General Life Insurance, General Electric Capital Corporation, URS, Manchester Tank and Franklin American Mortgage Company.

Boyle will assume both leasing and management of the property.

Charlie Robin, president of Robin Realty said the deal affirms the growing health of the Nashville market’s commercial real estate industry.

“It’s significant and it shows the confidence that investors have in the Middle Tennessee regional market,” Robin said. “Nashville is prepped to resume strong commercial real estate growth.”

Haynes said that Boyle and Milwaukee based Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Company have been joint venture partners in the past in both Memphis and Nashville, and have developed a successful formula for creating high quality office properties.

The Boyle Nashville office currently manages and leases Brentwood Commons I & II for TA Associates and several other area retail properties, Haynes said, Currently, Boyle is proposing to develop Liberty Crossing, a neighborhood shopping center at the intersection of Concord Road and Sunset Road in East Brentwood, he added.

In 2002, Boyle purchased the 58,000 square foot Center Court office building in Brentwood’s Maryland Farms.