West Palm Beach developer Michael McCloskey and investor Tom Quick paid $23 million for the Bank of America Centre, where they plan to reposition the building with medical office tenants.
The deal is another indicator of a push for more medical companies in the area.
Records show Westmont, Illinois-based auto dealer Ed Napleton sold the 10-story, 110,000-square-foot office building at 625 North Flagler Drive for $209 per square foot.
Bank of America plans to leave the property for the Esperante Corporate Centre, and McCloskey wants to increase the medical presence there with tenants like Mt. Sinai Hospital of New York, Jupiter Medical Center and the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the Palm Beach Post reported in May.
Experts told the newspaper that repositioning the building could cost between $6 million and $8 million. The Class A office building was built in 1984 and is less than a mile away from the Good Samaritan Medical Center.
“The 625 North Flagler Building will probably become a true medical office building, with doctors treating patients,” Anthony Librizzi, first vice president of CBRE in West Palm Beach, told The Real Deal earlier this year. “Jupiter Medical Center is a key driver toward that.”
Brokers have said that Jupiter Medical Center, a hospital, will take 8,000 square feet of space on the ground floor of the building. F1 Bioventures, a biotech venture capital firm, will occupy 7,000 square feet at the Bank of America building, which overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway.
No financing was recorded for building’s sale.
West Palm, as well as Palm Beach, is also attracting more hedge funds, as TRD reported in its fall issue.