FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jessica Neuman / Gina Salinas
IDEA HALL
(714) 436-0855 ext. 31 / 30
jessica@ideahall.com /
gina@ideahall.com
Buchanan Street Partners and Patriot Equities, L.P. Co-Invest in the Acquisition of the Darden Restaurants Headquarters Office Portfolio
- 10-Building Portfolio in Orlando, FL Acquired in Sale-Leaseback Deal with Darden Restaurants
Newport Beach, CA and Philadelphia, PA (October 4, 2006) - Buchanan Street Partners and Patriot
Equities, L.P. have co-invested in a 10-building Orlando, FL portfolio in a transaction totaling
approximately $55.0 million, including all acquisition and repositioning costs. The portfolio,
including one parcel of land in addition to the buildings, was sold by Darden Restaurants, Inc. (owner
and operator of restaurant chains including Red Lobster and Olive Garden) with a three-year leaseback
agreement. The acquisition was bridged with a first mortgage loan from Capmark Finance.
The Darden Office Portfolio includes a total of 422,555 square feet of office space on approximately 40
acres. All properties are located within the Orlando Central Park submarket, and are either on or near
Lake Ellenor Drive and are within close proximity to the I-4, US-17/92, Florida's Turnpike, the John Young
Parkway, and SR-528/Beachline Expressway. Darden Restaurants, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, currently
occupies 100 percent of the portfolio's rentable square footage. The interim leaseback will allow Darden
time to construct a new headquarters facility a short distance away.
"This transaction is consistent with the trend we are seeing where many corporations take a more strategic
approach to their real estate assets," said Geoffrey Gardner, principal at Patriot Equities. "Historically,
these properties would most likely have been sold vacant after Darden had already moved into their new
facility, thereby creating a more difficult and lengthy transaction and reducing the overall value realized
by Darden. By having the forethought to plan their move years in advance, Darden was able to maximize the
value of the asset by leasing them back for an interim period. Long-term, these assets are well positioned
to be released as multi-tenant office buildings or sold to users looking for their own identity in a market
that is supply constrained."
"Florida is benefiting from significant population and job growth and we anticipate Orlando's office market
will continue to experience positive absorption as new tenants arrive and existing tenants expand," said
John Pantone, senior vice president of Buchanan Street Partners' Chicago office. "Also, with increasing
commercial land and construction costs, we are comfortable with the overall basis in this niche office
portfolio."
About Buchanan Street Partners…
Buchanan Street Partners is a national real estate investment bank that
provides real estate capital and advisory services for owners and developers and investment management
for institutional and high-net-worth investors. The firm's advisory services include structured finance
and investment sales for commercial, multi-family, hotel and self storage properties. Buchanan's
investment management business invests equity and structured debt capital with local operating partners
nationally. Offices are located in Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta
and Washington D.C.
About Patriot Equities…
Patriot Equities, L.P. focuses on the acquisition, ownership and operation
of corporate real estate assets including vacant or excess properties, partially leased properties or
fully occupied properties with flexible lease terms. For more information, visit
www.patriotequities.com.
