Triple Net Buys 315,000-SF Office Facility

ST. LOUIS-Triple Net Properties LLC has purchased the new Express Scripts corporate headquarters, a 315,000-sf office building at 8555 University Place, on behalf of tenant-in-common investors. Though the company is currently engaged in a mega-merger with Grubb & Ellis, Triple Net is still acquiring properties, say company officials.

The three-story building is fully occupied by a manager of pharmacy benefit plans. The build-to-suit facility was constructed for $50 million by a venture of Clayco and Paric on the University of Missouri-St. Louis, on property adjacent to the 550-acre corporate NorthPark development, another joint venture between Clayco and McEagle Properties. The new building is on a 16-acre annex site to the $400-million NorthPark, a redevelopment of a former residential community near Lambert International Airport.

The property was specifically built for the company, which is expected to employ 1,100 people at the facility. The company has a 10-year lease on the building. Danny Prosky, managing director of healthcare properties, says Triple Net has been pursuing the property since August. “It’s a great credit tenant, we couldn’t think of anything we didn’t like about it,” Prosky tells GlobeSt.com. “We also like the fact that it’s on a university campus, those always tend to grow.”

Prosky says he can’t comment on if the purchase price was more than the construction cost. However, he says the lease rate is close to the area’s market average of about $14 to $15 per sf. The building is a great purchase for the company, Prosky says. “Healthcare is the single largest component of our national gross domestic product, and it is expected to continue to grow as the American population continues to expand, grow older and spend more on medical care.”