One Financial Plaza fetches $86M

One Financial Plaza, a 28-story downtown Fort Lauderdale office building and home to the Tower Club restaurant, has traded hands for $86.75 million.

A company tied to Walton Street Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, bought the 298,046-square-foot building at 100 SE Third Ave. from a division of Boca Raton-based Crocker Partners, Broward County property records show.

The building opened in 1972 as the Landmark Bank tower, the city’s first highrise. The Tower Club, home to a long-running series of public forums, sits on the top floor.

Major tenants include Regions Bank, the Broad and Cassel law firm and AXA Advisors. The building’s parking garage contains more than 300 spaces.

Crocker paid $44 million in 2011. The firm had proposed building another office tower just south of One Financial, at the corner of Southeast Third Avenue and Second Street. But commercial real estate observers said the development was unlikely to occur without a commitment from an anchor tenant.

A robust office market has led to a handful of building sales over the past year.

The 408,079-square-foot Bank of America Plaza at Las Olas City Centre sold in September for $220 million.

The SunTrust Center at 501 and 515 E. Las Olas Blvd. sold for $86.5 million, and the Esperante building at 222 Lakeview Ave. in West Palm Beach fetched $125 million.