Headquartered in Omaha, Orion Advisor Solutions provides tech-enabled financial tools, asset management and investment management services to over 2,100 growth-focused advisory firms. Orion has offices in Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. Half of Orion’s 1,000 employees are located in Omaha.

In 2011, Orion worked with Lockwood Development to build a state-of-the-art headquarters at 175th and Wright Street, just south of West Center Road, that would allow the fast-growing company room to expand. The original plans called for a 60,000 square foot building with room for a second, 45,000 square foot building to accommodate growth. The second building was constructed in 2016.

In 2019, Lockwood Development decided to sell the property in order to do a 1031 exchange into a new opportunity. Ember Grummons worked with Lockwood to determine the sales price and marketing strategy. Lockwood wanted to delay putting the property on the market until they had identified a replacement property for their exchange.

About this time, Valmont announced they would construct a new headquarters and vacate approximately 90,000 square feet at First National Business Park. Lockwood was the ideal buyer to purchase and re-tenant the Valmont Plaza Building.

Just as the Orion property was about to go to market, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Investor interest in office buildings evaporated, and Lockwood delayed bringing the property to market until late 2020, when conditions had somewhat improved. However, there was still uncertainty about how the pandemic would affect office occupancy, and the buyer pool for office investments was very thin.

Sentinel Net Lease, a private equity group based in Los Angeles, saw the value in the property and negotiated a purchase agreement. Sentinel closed on the Orion Property on June 10, 2021, and Lockwood purchased the Valmont building a few weeks later. Leasing efforts at Valmont are well underway, with several new tenants already identified. The transactions were a win for both Lockwood Development and Sentinel Net Lease, and it was a pleasure to work with them.

This article appeared in our company newsletter in October of 2021. Please click here to download the entire newsletter.