A South Florida Cushman & Wakefield team closed the $17.65 million sale of a five-story office building in another deal pointing to the robust office market in Fort Lauderdale.

New York-based real estate investment firm Delma Properties Inc. sold the 119,370-square-foot Lakeside Plaza northwest of Interstate 95 and Cypress Creek Road to another real estate investor, Hollywood-based Naya USA Investment & Management LLC.

The Cushman & Wakefield commercial team that represented the seller was managing director Dominic Montazemi, executive director Scott O'Donnell, senior associate Greg Miller and director Miguel Alcivar. They worked with the firm's agency leasing team of executive directors Travis Herring and Deanna Lobinsky in a deal that closed Jan. 4 at about $148 per square foot.

The deal had its unique challenges. The tenancy fluctuated during the process with tenants big and small signing leases while others said they won't renew, said Montazemi, based in Boca Raton.

“The biggest challenge was managing the fluctuation in the rent roll. When we first went to market on this, I think the property was 74 percent occupied. Then while we were marketing it and identifying our buyer, we were able to lease up some space and brought the occupancy into the 82 percent range,” he said. “As we entered into closing, we were notified by some tenants that they were not going to be renewing.”

Lakeside Plaza had 74.8 percent occupancy at the time of sale. Tenants include communications, video surveillance, access control, and intrusion and fire detection company Bosch Security Systems Inc., child care and education agency Early Learning Coalition of Broward County Inc. and security company Allied Universal.

The changes in the tenant base made the sale and securing the loan for the buyer more difficult, Montazemi said.

When a new lease is signed, the building is worth more than the negotiated price. But when a tenant is lost, the type of loan for the buyer changes, Montazemi said.

“We all had to be very flexible and work through some challenges as it related to that specific nuance of the process. It required a lot of patience on the part of the lender, the buyer and the seller as we went through this process. It was very complex given all the movement. Typically, you don't see those types of changes in the sale process and the kinds of swings we had,” he said.

Cushman & Wakefield senior director Jason Hochman, part of the firm's international equity, debt and structured finance platform, helped represent Naya USA in securing a $12.4 million loan.

Lakeside Plaza at 6301 NW Fifth Way is part of Corporate Park at Cypress Creek, a collection of office buildings.