NAI Farbman brokers unique office transaction in Southfield

NAI Farbman supported three companies in the gifting and trading of a 114,397-square-foot Class-A office building at 28333 Telegraph Road in Southfield, Michigan, between the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, Volunteers of America and Tamaroff Jeffrey Automotive Group.

The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that supports established organizations promoting healthcare, social services and education, purchased the asset in 2012 as an investment and, given the current state of the office industry, opted to gift the property to another nonprofit organization.

David Haboian, Senior Vice President of Operations at REDICO, and Edward Wujek, Executive Vice President at CBRE, represented the seller H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation in the transaction.

The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation gifted the asset to Volunteers of America, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization founded in 1896 that provides affordable housing and other assistance to low-income people throughout the U.S. Volunteers of America executed an analysis on the office building to determine if it could be converted into a multi-story thrift store, a common practice for the group who operates dozens of thrift stores nationwide.

The thrift store conversion turned out to be too difficult to execute. The office asset then quickly traded to the Tamaroff Jeffrey Automotive Group, a longstanding local automotive dealer of new and used cars for 50+ years in the metro Detroit market. As a result, Volunteers of America raised money for their charity by trading this important asset.

The transaction closed in 45 days and solved three challenges. All three brokers successfully coordinated the property conveyance from a charity to a non-profit, followed by a sale to an investor. As such, an optimal outcome was achieved for all three companies involved.