CASE STUDY – THE ECK UPTOWN PORTFOLIO

 

Richmond, Virginia

The Opportunity

The largest and one of the most complex real estate transactions in recent Richmond history and the sellers turned to Commonwealth Commercial Partners (CCP).

THE ECK UPTOWN PORTFOLIO is located in one of Richmond’s most recognizable neighborhoods, the Fan District. The sale of this mixed-use portfolio of 158 parcels presented some unique challenges and opportunities for Commonwealth Commercial Partners’ (CCP) Kit Tyler and Tucker “Nash” Warren. Being the largest portfolio sale ever brought to market in Richmond, the preparation for listing it on the market, and the organization of all the properties into 21 distinct bundles, required considerable time to understand each property and its various components (tenant leases, parking, conditions, etc.). Furthermore, at the client’s request, the team needed to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion while learning and inspecting the properties, preparing the marketing materials, and performing other preliminary due diligence—keeping it quiet prior to bringing the properties to market.

The Good News
  • Located within an approximately 10-block area just west of VCU’s Monroe Park Campus and along West Main and West Cary Streets — known as Midtown
  • Motivated seller with long-term ownership
  • Commercial space 95% leased; residential 100% leased
  • Very well-maintained properties by seller’s in-house property management and maintenance staff

 

Challenges
  • Procuring a single purchaser willing to acquire the entire portfolio at an acceptable price
  • The client wanted to sell quickly and quietly before year-end 2021
  • An immense amount of property data to analyze, organize, and prepare quickly and efficiently
  • Identifying the unique features of each property and bundle, and creating a marketing and sale strategy for each
  • Time-consuming and multifaceted due diligence for every Bundle/property to include appraisals, inspections (HVAC, roof, structural, environmental), etc.
  • Concerns about COVID affecting overall income and vacancy rates (especially retail), impact on pricing strategy, and difficulty of operating and selling during uncertain times

 

Our Solutions
  • The CCP team identified early on that they needed to pivot from the single buyer scenario because the diverse property types would not appeal to a single buyer, it severely limited the buyer pool, and their analysis revealed that selling in multiple smaller bundles would yield a much better return for their client
  • Working closely with their client, CCP created a new strategy to divide the portfolio into 21 smaller bundles based on proximity, parking, and adjacency
  • The team agreed that although this strategy would greatly complicate the process, it would yield the best result for their client
  • CCP now had to manage multiple offers, due diligence periods, and closings; and had to consistently report on the status of each offer and property or bundle to their client

 

The Results
  • In the end, a very successful partnership was forged between a wonderful client and CCP that yielded outstanding results
  • CCP furnished consistent and regular updates and provided important advisory
  • Among 19 separate contracts, qualified investors made purchases ranging from 1 parcel to 7 bundles (47 parcels)
  • In selling the portfolio by the bundle instead of as a whole, CCP fulfilled their client’s gross sale price goal and closed all but one transaction in 2021