Wells Core Office Income REIT has completed the acquisition of a six-story, 182,875 sq. ft. office property fully leased to Jackson National Life Insurance Co. in Englewood, Colo.

The purchase price was $41.5 million, exclusive of closing costs. The seller was LBA Realty Fund II-Company VII LLC.

The Class-A office building is located in the Denver Tech Center near the intersection of I-25 and I-225. The building is leased through March 2017 to Jackson National Life, a Standard & Poor’s AA-rated firm.

The giant insurer has the right to extend the term of its lease for two additional five-year renewal periods at 95% of the then-current market rate.

With $94 billion in total assets, Jackson National Life is one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States and a provider of variable, fixed and fixed index annuities.

According to the REIT's June 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the current annual effective base rent under the Jackson National Life lease is approximately $4.4 million. The current weighted-average rental rate over the lease term is $24.94 per sq. ft.

“We are enthusiastic about this latest acquisition as it folds very nicely into our core strategy,” says Don Henry, chief real estate officer of Norcross, Ga.-based Wells Real Estate Funds, the advisor to the REIT.

“In particular, we are thrilled to add another investment-grade rated tenant, Jackson National Life, to our expanding Wells Core REIT portfolio.”

Peter Mitchell, senior vice president of capital for Wells, represented the company in the transaction. Stephen Van Dusen of Eastdil Secured represented the seller.

Wells Core Office Income REIT is a public, non-traded real estate investment trust that focuses primarily on well-stabilized office assets leased primarily to investment-grade tenants.

At the end of the fist quarter, Wells Core Office Income REIT owned three office properties consisting of 335,000 sq. ft. The properties were approximately 99% leased.

Part of the REIT’s strategy is to invest in office and industrial properties at all stages of development, from those under construction to those with established operating histories.