Marwaha Business Park, formerly known as Parham Place.
Where some may have seen just an entirely empty suburban office complex, Gagan Marwaha saw something he wanted to put his name on.
The mostly under-the-radar local real estate investor earlier this year made yet another noteworthy deal with the acquisition of what was formerly known as the Parham Place office park at 1910, 1920 and 1950 E. Parham Road in Henrico.
Marwaha paid $5.35 million for the 10-acre, three-building complex that totals around 89,000 square feet of leasable office space, all of which was unoccupied when the deal closed in January. That’s because longtime anchor tenant EAB had vacated in favor of a new office near Innsbrook.
Marwaha was undeterred.
“I’m a value-add guy,” Marwaha said of his penchant of trying to buy properties on the cheap and bringing them up to market level. “EAB was leaving so the park was 100 percent vacant. That falls in my alley of value-add and I was able to buy the park at a discount.”
Gagan Marwaha
Upon closing the deal, he promptly rebranded the complex to Marwaha Business Park and wasted little time in trying to fill it.
He first moved his business there, with his firm Marwaha Investments taking 4,500 square feet in the building now known as Marwaha 3.
Then he scored his first big lease, one that he said lets him know his bet on the office park wasn’t far-fetched.
ColonialWebb, a mechanical and electrical contractor that’s a subsidiary of Comfort Systems USA, is moving its local office hub to the park, taking the entirety of the 35,000-square-foot Marwaha 1 building on a 10-year lease.
“I knew I would be able to turn the campus around,” Marwaha said. “I bought it Jan. 5 and within 30 days I was able to sign ColonialWebb. It’s proving that my gamble is worth it.”
For ColonialWebb, CFO Joe Piacentino said the new office will free up space at its current local home base at 2820 Ackley Ave., where it has a total of around 110,000 square feet. Of that, 25,000 square feet is currently offices, which will be converted into additional manufacturing and logistics space.
Piacentino said ColonialWebb has about 150 local employees and 800 total spanning through Northern Virginia, southern Maryland, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg. The parent company Comfort Systems has 14,000 employees nationwide.
Piacentino said the company plans to move into the Marwaha building by the end of April.
With one of the three buildings filled, Marwaha said he’s working on the rest.
Around 30,000 square feet remains available in Marwaha 2, which he’s hoping to lease to a single tenant. And there’s around 26,000 square feet remaining in Marwaha 3, which will be a multi-tenant building including his own firm.
Interest thus far has come from medical users and engineering and architecture firms.
Marwaha said he plans to spend around $2 million over time to upgrade the campus. Part of the upgrade was changing the park’s name. Marwaha said it’s less about seeing his name in large print than it was about sending a message to potential tenants.
“We want to tell the market that it’s under new management and ownership and we are here to make deals and fill the campus. I wanted to separate myself from the previous ownership.”
The seller was SIR Properties Trust, which had owned it since 2015, when it paid $12.75 million. Marwaha was represented in the acquisition by Commonwealth Commercial’s Tucker Dowdy and Michael Good.
Marwaha said he financed the purchase through Blue Ridge Bank.
The deal adds to Marwaha’s holdings in that section of Henrico. Just southeast from the business park he owns around 17 acres along Brook Road, much of which is contiguous and planned for future development. He also owns dozens of single-family rental properties in the vicinity and dozens more around the region, with a concentration in eastern Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg.
Petersburg has been a place of particular interest to Marwaha of late, as he spent nearly $9 million in the city last year to purchase a seven-story former bank building at 30 Franklin St. and the Cameron Lofts building at 325 Brown St.
Marwaha, who was born in India and moved to Richmond to attend VCU in 2006, said talks of a recession do have some lenders tightening up, but he plans to stay on the offensive with a focus on apartment buildings and office space. He said he’s focused on Richmond, Petersburg and Williamsburg and is beginning to look into Blacksburg and farther into Hampton Roads.
“I see this as an opportunity,” he said. “We are looking for deals every day.”
Marwaha Business Park, formerly known as Parham Place.
Where some may have seen just an entirely empty suburban office complex, Gagan Marwaha saw something he wanted to put his name on.
The mostly under-the-radar local real estate investor earlier this year made yet another noteworthy deal with the acquisition of what was formerly known as the Parham Place office park at 1910, 1920 and 1950 E. Parham Road in Henrico.
Marwaha paid $5.35 million for the 10-acre, three-building complex that totals around 89,000 square feet of leasable office space, all of which was unoccupied when the deal closed in January. That’s because longtime anchor tenant EAB had vacated in favor of a new office near Innsbrook.
Marwaha was undeterred.
“I’m a value-add guy,” Marwaha said of his penchant of trying to buy properties on the cheap and bringing them up to market level. “EAB was leaving so the park was 100 percent vacant. That falls in my alley of value-add and I was able to buy the park at a discount.”
Gagan Marwaha
Upon closing the deal, he promptly rebranded the complex to Marwaha Business Park and wasted little time in trying to fill it.
He first moved his business there, with his firm Marwaha Investments taking 4,500 square feet in the building now known as Marwaha 3.
Then he scored his first big lease, one that he said lets him know his bet on the office park wasn’t far-fetched.
ColonialWebb, a mechanical and electrical contractor that’s a subsidiary of Comfort Systems USA, is moving its local office hub to the park, taking the entirety of the 35,000-square-foot Marwaha 1 building on a 10-year lease.
“I knew I would be able to turn the campus around,” Marwaha said. “I bought it Jan. 5 and within 30 days I was able to sign ColonialWebb. It’s proving that my gamble is worth it.”
For ColonialWebb, CFO Joe Piacentino said the new office will free up space at its current local home base at 2820 Ackley Ave., where it has a total of around 110,000 square feet. Of that, 25,000 square feet is currently offices, which will be converted into additional manufacturing and logistics space.
Piacentino said ColonialWebb has about 150 local employees and 800 total spanning through Northern Virginia, southern Maryland, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg. The parent company Comfort Systems has 14,000 employees nationwide.
Piacentino said the company plans to move into the Marwaha building by the end of April.
With one of the three buildings filled, Marwaha said he’s working on the rest.
Around 30,000 square feet remains available in Marwaha 2, which he’s hoping to lease to a single tenant. And there’s around 26,000 square feet remaining in Marwaha 3, which will be a multi-tenant building including his own firm.
Interest thus far has come from medical users and engineering and architecture firms.
Marwaha said he plans to spend around $2 million over time to upgrade the campus. Part of the upgrade was changing the park’s name. Marwaha said it’s less about seeing his name in large print than it was about sending a message to potential tenants.
“We want to tell the market that it’s under new management and ownership and we are here to make deals and fill the campus. I wanted to separate myself from the previous ownership.”
The seller was SIR Properties Trust, which had owned it since 2015, when it paid $12.75 million. Marwaha was represented in the acquisition by Commonwealth Commercial’s Tucker Dowdy and Michael Good.
Marwaha said he financed the purchase through Blue Ridge Bank.
The deal adds to Marwaha’s holdings in that section of Henrico. Just southeast from the business park he owns around 17 acres along Brook Road, much of which is contiguous and planned for future development. He also owns dozens of single-family rental properties in the vicinity and dozens more around the region, with a concentration in eastern Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg.
Petersburg has been a place of particular interest to Marwaha of late, as he spent nearly $9 million in the city last year to purchase a seven-story former bank building at 30 Franklin St. and the Cameron Lofts building at 325 Brown St.
Marwaha, who was born in India and moved to Richmond to attend VCU in 2006, said talks of a recession do have some lenders tightening up, but he plans to stay on the offensive with a focus on apartment buildings and office space. He said he’s focused on Richmond, Petersburg and Williamsburg and is beginning to look into Blacksburg and farther into Hampton Roads.
“I see this as an opportunity,” he said. “We are looking for deals every day.”
Buy what no one else wants. That’s the entrepreneurs way to make money in real estate. Here’s a guy who has done it right.
Well done. Amazing progress in just 16 years in the country since he arrived from India
There looks a lot of room for hunderds of apartments here if they are able to upzone it with a four to six story apartment building or a parking deck or replace one of the parking lots with apartments.