The Surry Building at 1601 Rolling Hills Dr. (Photo by Burl Rolett)
A Glenside building left empty by a series of bad breaks has a new suitor.
The Surry Building at 1601 Rolling Hills Dr. is under contract to a local buyer and potential occupant. The building, currently owned by Norfolk-based Robinson Development, went on the market in the spring 2013 at an asking price of about $1.9 million.
Will Bradley, a CBRE broker in charge of marketing the 33,000-square-foot building, confirmed the pending purchase agreement but would not comment further. The building’s rental rate is $15.50 per square foot, and it has no tenants.
Robinson Development picked up the Surry Building after foreclosing on the property in January 2013. It was 85 percent vacant in February 2013.
A series of debacles over the past two years left the Surry Building empty. First, one of its owners, Veronica Cunningham was indicted on 41 counts of fraud for billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies for millions of dollars’ worth of bogus charges.
Cunningham was arrested in 2011 and convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in 2012. She was also ordered to pay more than $6 million in restitution and forfeited the Surry Building to its lender. People’s Bank of Virginia, which in 2012 was acquired by First Community Bank, issued the original loan on the property.
The office building then lost a tenant in 2012 when debt collection firm Friedman & MacFadyen moved out amid lawsuits connecting it to a $228 million investment scam.
Robinson bought the note on the Surry Building from First Community Bank in 2012 and foreclosed on the building in January 2013. Since then, Robinson has updated the building, renovating its lobby and common areas.
Robinson previously owned Forest Office Park, the 710,000-square-foot, 20-building business center that surrounds the Surry Building. Robinson sold much of its holdings there in between 2003 and 2006, according to Henrico County records.
Glenside is one of the tightest office submarkets in the entire Richmond area. Vacancy sat at an even 8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2013 with an average rental rate of $18.19, according to a CBRE market report.
“Its location is so central to the city,” Bradley said of Glenside. “And there is a very limited amount of supply in the market – it’s not as large as Innsbrook.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Robinson Development owns the Forest Office Park. The Norfolk firm sold off much of its holdings in the office park between 2003 and 2006.
The Surry Building at 1601 Rolling Hills Dr. (Photo by Burl Rolett)
A Glenside building left empty by a series of bad breaks has a new suitor.
The Surry Building at 1601 Rolling Hills Dr. is under contract to a local buyer and potential occupant. The building, currently owned by Norfolk-based Robinson Development, went on the market in the spring 2013 at an asking price of about $1.9 million.
Will Bradley, a CBRE broker in charge of marketing the 33,000-square-foot building, confirmed the pending purchase agreement but would not comment further. The building’s rental rate is $15.50 per square foot, and it has no tenants.
Robinson Development picked up the Surry Building after foreclosing on the property in January 2013. It was 85 percent vacant in February 2013.
A series of debacles over the past two years left the Surry Building empty. First, one of its owners, Veronica Cunningham was indicted on 41 counts of fraud for billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies for millions of dollars’ worth of bogus charges.
Cunningham was arrested in 2011 and convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in 2012. She was also ordered to pay more than $6 million in restitution and forfeited the Surry Building to its lender. People’s Bank of Virginia, which in 2012 was acquired by First Community Bank, issued the original loan on the property.
The office building then lost a tenant in 2012 when debt collection firm Friedman & MacFadyen moved out amid lawsuits connecting it to a $228 million investment scam.
Robinson bought the note on the Surry Building from First Community Bank in 2012 and foreclosed on the building in January 2013. Since then, Robinson has updated the building, renovating its lobby and common areas.
Robinson previously owned Forest Office Park, the 710,000-square-foot, 20-building business center that surrounds the Surry Building. Robinson sold much of its holdings there in between 2003 and 2006, according to Henrico County records.
Glenside is one of the tightest office submarkets in the entire Richmond area. Vacancy sat at an even 8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2013 with an average rental rate of $18.19, according to a CBRE market report.
“Its location is so central to the city,” Bradley said of Glenside. “And there is a very limited amount of supply in the market – it’s not as large as Innsbrook.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Robinson Development owns the Forest Office Park. The Norfolk firm sold off much of its holdings in the office park between 2003 and 2006.