(By Balaseshan) CapLease Inc. (NYSE: LSE) said it has closed the previously announced purchase of an about 145,000 square foot Class A office building located in the Energy Corridor of Houston, Texas for $35.5 million.
The building is 90% leased to WorleyParsons Ltd., an Australian listed energy and resource service engineering company with a market capitalization of over $6 billion. The WorleyParsons lease runs through December 2019. The remaining square footage in the building is leased by two other credit worthy tenants.
CapLease's average capitalization rate for the property is about 8.2%. The company expects to complete a 55% loan-to-cost non-recourse mortgage of the property prior to December 31, 2012. The about $19.5 million first mortgage loan is expected to be priced at a coupon of 4%, with a ten year term.
CapLease also said it has entered into a binding contract to buy two adjacent office buildings in a major market in the Southwestern United States for a total purchase price of $26.1 million.
The company's average capitalization rate for the properties will be over 9%. CapLease expects to close the acquisition prior to December 31, 2012.
"We are also optimistic we will be able to add at least one more high quality accretive transaction to the portfolio prior to year-end, and our recently announced block sale of common stock through the ATM program has given us the capital to close within that timeframe," said Paul McDowell, Chairman and Chief Executive of CapLease.
LSE is trading down 0.78% at $5.09 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $3.85 and $5.57 for the past 52 weeks.