It did not come as much of a surprise when GunnAllen Financial, Inc. finally closed its doors for business today. Regulators had been digging around the firm looking for net capitalization violations after Chairman John Sykes abruptly left at the end of the last year. With Sykes’ exit, the writing was on the wall that the firm’s future was in question and brokers began to leave the firm.
The real estate story behind GunnAllen is quite interesting. An affiliated entity purchased the building at 5002 West Waters in 2004 for $9.5m and leased the building to GunnAllen. The property had originally been owned by financially troubled Tropical Sportswear and the transaction was considered a distressed asset sale. A parking garage was added to the property and it was sold 2 years later at the top of the market for $7.4m, or $2.1m LESS than the original sale. A new lease agreement with GunnAllen was executed with the new owners.
GunnAllen management believed it would need the 117,000 sq ft property to accommodate its expansion plans. When the stock market imploded, the property became an albatross for the company, whose profits were heavily tied to the market. Management had been attempting to reduce costs associated with the build by either subleasing unused portions of the property or vacating the property entirely.
Regardless of the circumstances, Tampa will now have an estimated 400 additional unemployed people and 117,000 sq feet of office space on the market. The property will be a challenge to market. It is a Class A building, but the surrounding area is really better suited for light industrial or transportation, rather than an office fit for a white shoe law firm. There is a significant common area load on the building making it best suited for a single tenant, unless the price is at a significant discount to factor in the common area charge.
