Single Tenant Office building in the CBD was 60% vacant.
Action:
Langley Properties Company bought the property and conducted extensive renovations to the interior and exterior of the building. We also aggressively marketed the property to blue chip professional tenants.
Result:
Four years after the building was purchased the property was 90% occupied with blue chip tenants.
Four years after the building was purchased, the property was 90% occupied with blue-chip tenants.
When Langley Properties Company acquired the largest office building in Lexington, KY (388,245SF office complex) in 1999, the property was run down and considered to be the “white elephant” of the central business district. The building had not been renovated since it was built in 1979, and 60% of the office building was either vacant or leased by tenants planning to vacate within a year. Because of the building’s many problems, few saw any potential in the property prior to our acquisition and redevelopment.
Within three years of purchasing the property, approximately 50% of the property was re-leased, and vacancy rates were at 10%. Langley Properties Company was able to lease much of the vacated space to Stoll, Keenon and Park and Greenbaum, Doll and McDonald, two of the top largest law firms in Lexington and in Kentucky, respectively. In addition, Central Bank expanded dramatically. 300 West Vine transformed from a large downtown eyesore to the business district’s premier professional office complex.
The property’s low cost basis gave management the flexibility to invest significant resources to make the following improvements in the building while maintaining market-rate rents:
• Converted the building’s nondescript balconies into two sky terraces complete with extensive stone landscaping and gardens.
• Completed extensive exterior façade work.
• Installed computerized energy management and security systems.
• Completely renovated the main lobby with granite tile floors and mahogany-paneled walls.
