$55 million purchase of iconic downtown office building represents South Florida firms’ first foray into growing market; partnership plans significant improvements to Nashville’s original skyscraper
Tricera Capital, the Miami-based commercial real estate firm with a vast portfolio across the Southeast U.S., and Merrimac Ventures, a South Florida-based real estate investor and developer with luxury residential, hotel, office, retail, storage and mixed-use projects throughout the Southeast, made a notable debut in the thriving Nashville market with the $55 million acquisition of L&C Tower.
The iconic and historic office building is in the heart of Nashville’s central business district. It is also tied tocity’s most notable history, including visionary architecture and groundbreaking moments in music and entertainment (as the former home of radio station WLAC and its early rhythm and blues programming).
This significant transaction closed on March 11, 2022. CIM Group is the seller.
Ben Mandell and Scott Sherman co-founded Tricera. The firm, in partnership with Nitin and Dev Motwani-led Merrimac, plans an extensive renovation that will add substantial value to L&C Tower while preserving its Art Deco style and historical features. Spec office suites (also known as “move in ready” spaces) will be created to maximize square footage within L&C Tower’s spacious floor plates, allowing existing and new-to-market tenants to expeditiously move into the building and, in turn, maximizing their ability to attract and retain talent.
Notable existing tenants include Warby Parker, Keep Truckin, Serendipity Labs, CJ Advertising, Drive Social Media, Complex Media and Vardiman Black.
The seller invested in major capital improvements to the property’s common areas over the course of its six-plus years of ownership. Leasing activity lagged during the pandemic, however, Tricera’s planned enhancements and spec suite strategy are expected to generate swift leasing momentum.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to acquire a centrally-located office building with irreplaceable historic appeal to many Nashvillians at an attractive basis,” Tricera Managing Principal Ben Mandell said. “Our robust improvement and spec suite program will position us to accommodate the pent-up corporate migration demand in one of the fastest-growing office markets in the nation.”
Located at 401 Church St., L&C Tower is Nashville’s first modern skyscraper (constructed in the 1950s by local Tennessean and renowned architect, Edwin A. Keeble) and credited as a catalyst for the city’s skyline. Keeble incorporated a solar design that made L&C Tower decades ahead of its time as an energy efficient building.
It was the Southeast’s tallest building until the mid-1960s. Its neon logo, once connected to an onsite barometer, was well-known for helping the local community forecast the weather, prompting the slogan, “What’s the weather going to be? Just keep your eyes on L&C.”
As a way to engage with the local community and begin to share some of its plans for the building, Tricera is planning an exclusive event for top local real estate producers shortly after closing.
Tricera has engaged Doug Ryan, Brian Casey and Richard Rieck of Colliers International’s Nashville office for leasing services as well as Mike Delevante, Suzanne McGrath Nahay and Lindsay Jameison of Delevante Creative to assist with the re-brand and marketing for the building. Tricera is planning to retain 511 Group for property management services and Lines, Inc. for architectural design. This assembly of Nashville-based talent infuses the project with valuable local insight and a roster of experience with some of Nashville’s most prestigious projects.
Nashville’s 11,000 new job announcements in 2020 helped the market rank No. 1 in the nation for employment growth. Amazon and Oracle are among the notable companies infusing many jobs in the area: ultimately, attracting ancillary tech and professional service providers and driving demand for office space and rental rate increases.
While some investors were skittish about the office sector during the pandemic, Tricera aggressively sought opportunities to acquire prime buildings in top-tier markets. L&C Tower follows numerous prominent office acquisitions completed by Tricera in Florida, including One Clearlake in West Palm Beach, Offices at Atria in Sarasota – another Tricera/Merrimac partnership – and Cube Wynwd (now known as the Blockchain.com Building) in Miami’s Wynwood.
“Southern urban core markets like Nashville are seeing a tremendous boom in millennial and corporate migration,” Motwani said. “This was already occurring prior to COVID, but this accelerated the trend. We look forward to completing additional strategic office acquisitions in our target Southeast markets.”
About Tricera Capital: Miami-based Tricera Capital is a real estate investment firm focused on value-add, urban retail, office and mixed-use investments and developments throughout the United States. Since launching in 2017, Tricera’s principals have leveraged their institutional real estate experience, relationships and entrepreneurial spirit to create off-market opportunities and quickly amass a portfolio in select target markets. The principals are seasoned real estate professionals with deep track records of success in deal sourcing, acquisitions, syndication and leasing. Their experience enables TriceraCapital to strategically identify and execute deals and move swiftly to create value by repositioning assets and upgrading the tenancy to deliver superior returns to investors. For more information, visit www.triceracap.com.
