Case Studies

CenturyLink Portfolio

Unico had identified Salt Lake City as an undervalued market in the prior investment cycle, yet well located acquisition opportunities remained scarce. We were particularly interested in participating in the tailwinds offered by recent investments made in transit, retail, and residential that were creating an urbanization trend clearly playing out elsewhere in the country. The challenges we met in this complex user-sale included working through terms for the seller’s leaseback of about 40% of the tower building; synthesizing incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information provided by a non-investor seller; de-risking the lease-up and solving an under-parked ratio; and identifying multiple execution paths for the soon-to-be-vacated data center property.

CenturyLink Tower against the dusky skyline of Salt Lake City, Utah

Working in our favor was the reputation we had built through our previous transactions with Qwest Communications, which merged with CenturyLink in 2010.

More Deal Sourcing Stories

Map of Salt Lake City showing the neighborhoods by CenturyLink Building

Unfazed by the job ahead, Unico approached the seller and was able to secure the investment. Working in our favor was the reputation we had built through our previous transactions with Qwest Communications, which merged with CenturyLink in 2010. The acquisition started off well prior to close, as we struck a lease deal – during due diligence – with the University of Utah to occupy much of the tower vacancy. At the same time, we looked to the data center project as a solution to secure parking while also soliciting offers from land developers who were offering prices in excess of our allocated value. Today, the office tower is on pace to stabilize at a 10% yield on cost with almost full credit tenancy while the data center building is held at $30/sf, or 35% below comparable land sale trades when valued solely for the underlying ground.