Local Buyer Snags 234,342-SF Twin Towers

SAN ANTONIO, TX-RM Crowe Co. ended a more than 10-year hold on the 234,342-square-foot Petroleum Towers I and II, selling the class A office asset to local buyer Cotter & Sons. The nine-acre office complex traded for approximately $22 million.

RM Crowe bought the buildings at 8626 and 8700 Tesoro Dr. in 1997 with a partner, then bought out the partner’s share in 2006. Company president Chris Matthews tells GlobeSt.com that several million dollars were invested in buildouts and tenant upgrades.

“Since the time we bought it out, we leased it up from the high 70s to the low 90s, and we felt like it was an opportune time to put this on the market,” Matthews explains. Todd Mills with CB Richard Ellis Investment Properties in San Antonio took on the marketing assignment and Matthews says since the asset was introduced to the market last summer, Crowe saw a lot of interest and “a multitude of different offers.”

Ultimately, Cotter & Sons came up with a large deposit and went hard with the money in a timely fashion. “This gave us a high level of confidence that they’d close,” Matthews says.

In this transaction, RM Crowe turns over a stabilized asset to Cotter & Sons. Matthews says the tenant base consists of governmental users including the Internal Revenue Service, the Regional Area Council of Governments and the General Services Administration. Sito Labs is also a large tenant at the 1970s asset, he adds.

“There is a variety of small users’ space that will see a normal level of turnover, but nothing significant,” he adds. “This is a good, solid office property in a good location.”

The sale leaves the Dallas-based RM Crowe with one area asset, the 96,668-square-foot DeZavala Crossing at 5219 DeZavala Rd. Tenants include The Room Store, Conn’s and PetsMart. Matthews says there are no plans to sell the retail center.