Franklin Street (FSP) Rakes $83M From Offering, Flexibility Up

Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSE:FSP) raked in around $83.0 million in net proceeds from its public offering of 7,043,750 shares of its common stock, including 918,750 shares purchased by the underwriters on full exercise of option to purchase additional shares.

This move would help Franklin Street to better manage its financial obligations. In fact, the company plans to payback around $45.5 million under its senior unsecured revolving credit facility that it had borrowed in anticipation of financing its Pershing Park Plaza acquisition in Atlanta, GA, as well as fund its projected redevelopment expenses of $15–$20 million for its 801 Marquette Avenue property in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Moreover, any proceeds not used in the Pershing Park Plaza buyout or the 801 Marquette redevelopment would be used by the company to repay its debts and meet other general corporate needs.

Located in Midtown Atlanta, this nine-story Class “A” office building – Pershing Park Plaza –contains around 160,000 rentable square feet. Franklin Street acquired the property for a gross price of $45.5 million, or approximately $284 per rentable square foot. This property has aided the company enhance its Midtown presence in Atlanta to more than 780,000 rentable square feet after including the 999 Peachtree Street property.

Presently, this building, which is 97% leased to three tenants, offers scope to the company to boost its top line with accessibility to MARTA light rail and other cultural attractions and amenities of Atlanta. Franklin Street expects planned building capital investments of about $1.8 million.

Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Franklin Street Properties, which targets investing in institutional-quality office properties in the U.S., currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the REIT industry may consider stocks like CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE:COR) , HCP Inc. (NYSE:HCP) and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) . Each of these stocks holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).