The Northbridge Centre office tower in downtown West Palm Beach, noted for its reflective glass exterior, has traded for $98 million.

A joint venture of Vanderbilt Office Properties LLC, a Chicago-based real estate investment manager, and C-III Capital Partners LLC, a New York and Irving, Texas-based real estate investor, bought the tower from Crocker Partners LLC.

The 21-story, 294,000-square-foot tower at 515 N. Flagler Drive overlooks Flagler Park and the Intracoastal Waterway to the east. The sale breaks down to over $333 per square foot.

The sale comes on the heels of a $15 million renovation that included upgrades to lobbies and the conference center. Spec space, a cafe and barista bar were added.

Crocker Partners since last year has disposed of many of its trophy office holdings in South Florida. It started with the $127 million sale of downtown Miami's SunTrust International Center in May 2018. As part of a joint venture, Crocker sold the 33-story Brickell City Tower for $117 million last September.

The Crocker trade and others add to the South Florida trophy office sales even with experts saying  the region's market has been entering calmer times after about five years of robust growth.

Crocker is a value-add investor, seeking under-performing assets and renovating them to increase their turnaround value. It executed the same  strategy before all three recent office sales.

Crocker bought Northbridge in 2016 for $68 million as part of a joint venture with Greenfield Partners LLC, a Westport, Connecticut-based real estate investment manager.

The renovation and additions attracted new tenants and ultimately led to rents more than doubling, according to a news release. Rates went from $20 per square foot triple net to $42 per square foot triple net over the past three years.

Major tenants include Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank and Quest Workspaces.

“By performing an extensive, first-class renovation and adding best-in-market amenities, we were able to attract top-tier tenants,” Brett Reese, Crocker senior vice president, said in the release. “It was the right time to present a perfect lease-up opportunity for the next buyer.”

Crocker also turned around the nearby 17-story Esperante for a 17 percent return on a five-year hold ending in 2016.

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