One Financial Plaza, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

A joint venture of Crocker Partners and Westcity Realty has acquired downtown Fort Lauderdale’s One Financial Plaza, a 236,000 sq. ft. Class-A office tower, plus two contiguous development sites for $44 million.

Crocker Partners will be responsible for asset management, with Westcity Realty providing on-site management. The 28-story One Financial Plaza tower is Crocker’s second holding in Fort Lauderdale’s central business district.

The company has owned an adjacent 1.5-acre parcel at 200 S.E. 2nd St. since 2005, creating tremendous opportunities for synergy, says Thomas Brockwell, a partner with Crocker Partners.

One Financial Plaza is Crocker’s second trophy property acquisition this year. In January, Crocker acquired Lakes On Post Oaks, a 1.2 million sq. ft. complex in Houston’s Galleria submarket, in a joint venture with Five Mile Partners.

“One Financial Plaza is consistent with our long-term strategy of buying high-quality assets in thriving major metro markets and adding value through asset and property management,” says Thomas J. Crocker, managing partner.

“It is reflective of the growing pipeline of opportunities we see in today’s market as we actively pursue acquisitions throughout the Southeast, Texas and metro Washington, D.C.,” adds Crocker.

One Financial Plaza, home to the Tower Club, sits on four acres at 100 S.E. Third Ave., with frontage on Broward Boulevard, downtown Fort Lauderdale’s most heavily traveled thoroughfare. Anchored by Regions Bank, the building is approximately 80% leased.

In all, the principals with Boca Raton-based Crocker Partners have owned and managed more than 29 million sq. ft., developed more than 2 million sq. ft. of Class-A office space, and invested over $2 billion in the Southeast and Texas.

Fort Lauderdale-based Westcity Realty is a real estate investment group whose projects include the development and master plan of Weston Commons, a retail and residential development in Weston.

Westcity Realty’s other prominent deals have included the acquisition of a 200,000 sq. ft. downtown Boca Raton office complex consisting of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch buildings, as well as the Veranda at Plantation, a master-planned retail and residential development.