(l-r) David Duckworth, Michael Fay and John Crotty. Photos: ALM

Avison Young played a double role in a $13.85 million office deal, representing the seller and securing a loan for the buyer.

Transatlantic Investment Management Inc. sold the 80,000-square-foot Bank of America office building at 1776 N. Pine Island Rd. in Plantation to The Kislak Organization.

“As the economy is changing, you never know when things are going to start to fall off, and they just felt like now the market is still strong to sell,” said David Duckworth, one of the Avison Young principals who worked on the sale.

Duckworth, based in Fort Lauderdale, worked with John Crotty and Michael Fay, who are based in Miami, to represent Transatlantic.

Avison Young principal George Vail in Miami represented Kislak in securing a $12.05 million loan, 80 percent for the purchase and the rest for building improvements.

Massachusetts-based Transatlantic is a family-owned investment and management firm that focuses on office real estate in the Boston area as well as South Florida. It bought the Bank of America building in December 2012 for $10.9 million, generating a 27 percent gain in just under six years.

The Kislak Organization is a Miami Lakes-based real estate investment and brokerage company that traces its roots to 1906 in Hoboken, New Jersey, where Julius I. Kislak started the business going door to door to introduce the Kislak name, according to the company's website. His son, Jay I. Kislak, who died in October, moved the company to South Florida.

The strength of the Kislak name is part of the reason Vail was able to generate an 80 percent loan-to-value loan when the maximum typically is 70 percent to 75 percent.

“Kislak has been in Miami for a very long time, has operated real estate for a very long time. They are very well-regarded and have a great track record,” Vail said.

Its other assets include a 66,600-square-foot office park at 6710-6834 W. Sunrise Blvd. also in Plantation.

The loan from New York-based Popular Bank has a 4.6 percent interest rate. It's for a 10-year term with a two-year interest-only period after which it switches to a 25-year amortization schedule, according to a news release.

Both the sale and loan closed Nov. 7.

The property, which was 90 percent occupied at the time of sale, offers small offices of 1,800 to 4,000 square feet and is home to a Bank of America mortgage division.

The sale, which breaks down to $173 per square foot, speaks to a strong Plantation office market supported by its central location and proximity to shopping and dining.

The office occupancy and lease rates for the third quarter in Plantation were 93 percent and $31.70, respectively, both higher than in many other Broward County submarkets, according to an Avison Young report.