ACQUISITION & TURNAROUND STORY
In early 2004 the Allegiance team of Chris Smith, Greg Smith and Scott Sambade was able to identify an opportunity to purchase a 1.2 million square foot office portfolio in the I-287 south submarket of New Jersey. This portfolio was comprised of the Atrium Corporate Campus, Campus Drive Executive Center, and Airport Park which are further detailed in the following success stories. Prior to this, Allegiance had a solid track record for purchasing single officebuildings and hotels in secondary and tertiary markets but had not closed on a multi-asset purchase. As the investment size was larger than Allegiance’s traditional acquisition criteria and sources of equity, Scott Sambade brought in Rockpoint Group, LLC as an institutional equity partner.
From December 2004 until the Atrium Corporate Campus and Campus Drive Executive Center was sold to LaSalle Investment Management in December 2005, Scott Sambade of Appian Real Estate was the Managing Partner for the portfolio and in conjunction with Allegiance’s existing management and construction team was responsible for the leasing, management, and overall execution of the business plan. In a market that hadn’t seen 200,000 sf of leasing activity over the previous 12-month period, 260,000 sf of leases were signed (209,000 sf represented new tenants) and over $10 million invested in lobby renovations, capital improvements in the next 12 months. As a result, the partnership achieved a significant increase in value and was able to sell the portfolio two years ahead of the pro-forma business plan