A Lincoln man who gained fame for his successful investing while he was a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has bought an office building at the Nebraska Technology Park.
Mark Suleiman, who was profiled in the Journal Star as well as in national publications such as USA Today for his investing prowess while at UNL, bought the One Technology Place building and the four acres on which it sits at 4665 Innovation Drive for nearly $3.3 million.
Suleiman started an investment club, called the Shark Fund, in 2009 while a student at UNL, and he won accolades for his outsize returns. He doubled his original $11,000 investment in four months, and two years later had produced overall returns of 370 percent investing his own money and that of other students.
The Kearney native has since closed the fund and now has a holding company that owns real estate as well as a software development firm. Nearly two years ago he bought a building at 12th and Q streets that houses retail tenants. He said in an email that the chance to buy One Technology Place "presented a unique opportunity" to own what he called one of Lincoln's best commercial office buildings.
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Suleiman bought the building from Ameritas Life Insurance Co. for $3 million and the four-acre parcel the building sits on from the University of Nebraska Foundation for $290,000.
The deal represents the first sale of Tech Park property since the NU Foundation announced nearly two years ago it planned to put the portions of the park in northwest Lincoln it still owns up for sale.
The park opened in 1997 as a business incubator, but it grew over the years to house other businesses, including Verizon Wireless, Dell and Cabela's.
With the development of Innovation Park at the former State Fairgrounds, the Tech Park became less desirable for the foundation and UNL.
Foundation spokeswoman Dorothy Endacott said two remaining parcels --Â 76 undeveloped acres; and the Technology Development Center, a multi-tenant building on six acres -- are still listed for sale. She said the foundation has "interested parties," but she couldn't comment any further.
Suleiman said Kentucky-based technology company Computer Services Inc. will remain as a tenant in the 30,000-square-foot One Technology Place building.
Suleiman also said he plans to move the hardware development and specialized engineering teams of his software company, State Studios, to the building by summer.
When asked whether he might be interested in the other parcels at the Tech Park, Suleiman responded: "We are always interested in new opportunities."
And whether those opportunities come at the Tech Park or somewhere else, "I can say, with complete certainty, you will see more acquisitions from Suleiman Holdings in 2015," he said.