Cool Springs mixed-use building sells for $48.75M

Boyle Investment Co. has paid $48.75 million for mixed-use The McEwen Building in Cool Springs.

According to a release, the seller was KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III Inc., which acquired the building in 2012. The Post was unable to determine at publication time what KBS paid for the property.

KBS Realty Advisors operates the Newport Beach, California-based REIT and has acknowledged its financial woes. Multiple reports note the REIT might cease operations.

In early January, commercial real estate sector online publication GlobeSt reported that KBS in December 2023 said the net asset value of the REIT’s portfolio, estimated at $1.3 billion in September 2022, had fallen to about $833 million, a decrease of more than $430 million (read here). The Dallas Morning News also reported (read here).

Somewhat relatedly, a KBS Realty Advisors-affiliated LLC (SMIV 315 DEADERICK STREET LLC) owns downtown Nashville’s UBS Tower, having paid $175.45 million for it in April 2022 (read here).

The McEwen Building offers 175,000 square feet of Class A office space and ground-floor retail. Situated on 11 acres, the seven-story building is located at 1550 West McEwen Drive in the McEwen Southside development.

The building sits across West McEwen Drive from the Boyle-managed (and co-developed) McEwen Northside, a 45-acre mixed-use development.

Built in 2009, The McEwen Building offers a 95 percent occupancy rate with 15 businesses and retail and restaurant tenants. Kaiser Aluminum’s headquarters occupies the building’s top floor, and tenants including Brixx Wood Fired Pizza + Craft Bar, Title Boxing Club and Massage Luxe operate from the ground floor.

“When our team first focused on this portion of Cool Springs with McEwen Northside, we felt there was an opportunity to create a unique district in Cool Springs to become the center of activity,” Jeff Haynes, Boyle Nashville partner, said in the release. “Our goal from the onset has been to create that, to stitch together these great pieces in a highly walkable area and create an ecosphere that benefits tenants and the local community alike. The purchase of The McEwen Building helps us further that vision.”

Marc DeLuca, KBS CEO and eastern regional president, said KBS’s “ability to bring the building to nearly 100 percent occupancy, particularly in today’s challenging office leasing and investment climate, and to have an asset trade at a 5 percent discount from its 2022 valuation, is a testament to our solid asset management expertise, the strength of core office assets as well as the strength of the Nashville market.”

Boyle is headquartered in Memphis.