‘Copper-Whopper' Office Asset Sells for $51M

ORLANDO-One of the most visible class A office towers Downtown, the 20-story, 240,000-sf, copper-clad AmSouth Bank Building known during its 19-year existence as the Copper Whopper, has been sold for an estimated $51 million or about $213 per sf, people in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com. The sale hasn’t yet been recorded at the Orange County Courthouse.

However, Downtown brokers intimate with the deal’s principals tell GlobeSt.com Fulcrum Asset Advisors LLC, of Barrington, IL near Chicago, bought the 92%-leased property from Institutional Equity LP, an affiliate of San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co.

The property at 111 N. Orange Ave. drew purchase bids from 45 potential buyers, brokers familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com. “It was the most sought-after trophy office asset we have seen in a long time in Downtown Orlando,” says a banking mortgage company representative not directly associated with the transaction.

Saudi investor Yousef Jameel developed the Copper Whopper in 1986. Jameel’s US representative, Jaymont Properties of Chicago and Orlando, managed the property before it was sold in 1995. The AmSouth Bank Building was formerly known as First Florida Bank Tower, NationsBank Tower and Barnett Bank Building. Major tenants are KPMG LP accountants, Foley & Lardner law firm and UBS AG, an international investment company.

Another Downtown trophy office asset awaiting a closing sale date is the 16-story, 300,000-sf Wachovia Bank Building nearby at 20 N. Orange Ave., brokers intimate with that deal tell GlobeSt.com. The joint owners are New York-based Sterling American Property Inc. and Miami-based Continental Real Estate Co. Fred Wilpon, the New York Mets baseball club owner, chairs Sterling American. The joint venture paid $30 million for the property in 2002, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.