Boca Raton Innovation Campus sold

Crocker buys former home of IBM for reported $179.3 million

The Boca Raton Innovation Campus, a 125-acre office park that was once the South Florida home of IBM and the birthplace of its personal computer, is back in local hands.

Crocker Partners and Rialto Capital Management bought the property for a reported $179 million.

The dollar amount of the transaction does not appear in Palm Beach County property records, and the buyers did not disclose it. But the industry website Real Capital Analytics placed the acquisition price at $179.3 million.

“Boca Raton Innovation Campus is an important economic contributor to the city and a solid fit for our portfolio,” Angelo Bianco, managing partner of Boca Raton-based Crocker Partners, said in a statement. “As long-term owners, we intend to see that BRIC is well positioned to attract a new generation of companies.”

He said Crocker intends to install “meaningful upgrades” to the buildings.

Built in the 1960s, the campus was once home to IBM’s North American Research and Development arm, which devised the personal computer. The campus is now 73 percent occupied, Crocker said. Its tenants include Bluegreen Vacations Corp., Johnson Controls Security Solutions, Trans-Union, MDVIP and Modernizing Medicine.

The sellers were Farallon Capital Management of San Francisco and Next Tier HD of New York.

The acquisition expands Crocker’s commercial real estate portfolio in Boca Raton to 2.9 million square feet, accounting for 25 percent of the city’s office space inventory, the company said. Besides the innovation campus, the holdings include The Plaza, One Town Center and One Boca Place office towers and the mixed-use Boca Center, which consists of two office buildings, a retail center and hotel.

CROCKER PARTNERS/COURTESY The Boca Raton Innovation Campus, the birthplace of IBM’s personal computer, was sold for a reported $179.3 million.