MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Bancorp has renewed its 447,000-square-foot lease for its office headquarters at 800 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. Brent Erickson and Callie Ronkowski of Newmark represented the owner, Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc., while JLL represented the tenant. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of US Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the country, according to Newmark. US Bank has occupied the property, which is also named U.S. Bancorp Center, since 2000. Piedmont acquired the building in 2003. Amenities include a 12,500-square-foot amenity space on the top floor with a fitness center and conference rooms. The property will soon welcome 801 Fish, a fine dining seafood restaurant, and undergo a two-story lobby renovation to include additional tenant collaboration lounges and an onsite coffee lounge.
Leasing Activity
EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. — Law firm Fafinski Mark & Johnson (FMJ) has leased 22,220 square feet of office space at One Southwest Crossing in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie. Jaclyn May, Paul Donovan and Tom DeSautel of Cushman & Wakefield represented FMJ, while Eric Heltne of Avison Young represented the landlord, Eagle Ridge Partners. Jennifer Stumm of FMJ will lead the project management for the build-out of the new office. FMJ is relocating within Eden Prairie and plans to take occupancy at One Southwest Crossing in spring 2024. The property was recently renovated.
KENNESAW, GA. — Two new tenants have signed leases at Boone Centre, a shopping center located in Kennesaw, roughly 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. Backsmith Chiropractic and Axe Throwing Therapy will open at the property, which is situated at 2680 Cobb Parkway. Max Albers of Stratus Property Group represented both tenants in the lease negotiations. The landlord was not disclosed.
Families searching for more space, in part as remote work options retain their hold on the workplace landscape, plus strong migration into the Southeast have helped fuel a robust single-family rental market, especially in Atlanta and other Georgia markets over the last several years. More recently, young renters pairing up to share the growing burden of housing costs, as well as would-be home buyers putting off a purchase because of higher interest rates, have also gravitated toward single-family rentals, says Troy Reynolds, a multifamily advisor with NAI G2 Commercial Real Estate, who has added single-family rentals to his business focus. Given the lack of housing supply in the Southeast, these conditions are likely to persist for the foreseeable future. As a result, a growing number of investors have been piling into the assets amid a multifamily investment market saturated with buyers and a consequent leap in prices over the past few years, he adds. “We just don’t have enough housing to meet all the demand, and we continue to see a mass exodus from other states into the Southeast, and particularly into Georgia,” Reynolds states. “So, we’re seeing a lot of younger as well as newer investment groups coming …
BALTIMORE — Restaurateur Pinky Cole will open two food-and-beverage concepts, Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan, at Baltimore Peninsula, a $5 billion mixed-use redevelopment project currently underway in Baltimore. Scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, the plant-based restaurants are expected to create more than 100 new jobs. The 14 million-square-foot, 235-acre Baltimore Peninsula development also features a four-acre sports venue, ROOST Apartment Hotel and the Rye House and 250 Mission residential communities. The development and investment team for the project includes MAG Partners, MacFarlane Partners, Kevin Plank of Under Armour and his Sagamore Ventures investment firm and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Urban Investment Group. Additionally, Pinky Cole will join the development team for Baltimore Peninsula’s Rye Street Market component.
DORAL, FLA. — Three new tenants have signed leases at Century Town Center, a mixed-use property in Doral. My Salon Suites, Rumble Boxing and Kidstrong will occupy 5,910; 2,541; and 2,734 square feet of ground-floor retail space, respectively. Located at 8175 NW 107th Ave., Phase I of Century Town Center features 326 residential units and 31,000 square feet of retail space. A planned second phase of the project will comprise an additional 408 residential units and 27,000 square feet of retail space. Rafael Romero and Malina Huynh of JLL represented the landlord — a partnership between Mattoni Group, Double C and Century Homebuilders Group — in the lease negotiations.
JLL Arranges Office Leases Totaling 24,472 SF at Salesforce Tower in Atlanta’s Buckhead District
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — JLL has arranged two leases at Salesforce Tower in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta. Rubicon renewed its 6,338-square-foot lease at the property, and payment solutions provider Clearent by Xplor signed a new 18,134-square-foot lease. Brooke Dewey, Jeff Taylor and Caroline Fisher of JLL represented the landlord, a partnership between Banyan Street Capital and KKR, in the negotiations. Newmark represented Rubicon, and CBRE represented Clearent by Xplor. Amenities at the building include direct access to MARTA and The Buc rideshare service, a fitness center, coffeeshop and electric vehicle charging stations.
HOUSTON — Audubon Engineering Co. has signed a 71,879-square-foot office lease for its new corporate headquarters at 3505 W. Sam Houston Parkway N in West Houston. The 227,045-square-foot building was constructed in 2013 and offers a cafeteria, fitness center and outdoor gathering and amenity spaces. Reggie Beavan, Joshua Brown and Audrey Selber of Newmark represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Russell Hodges and Bubba Harkins of CBRE represented the landlord, Israeli investment firm Azrieli Group.
HOUSTON — Lowe’s Outlet has opened a 41,453-square-foot store at Champions Village, a 383,346-square-foot retail power center in northwest Houston. The North Carolina-based home improvement retailer backfilled a space previously occupied by Stein Mart. The opening precedes the 2024 debuts of Hibbett Sports and soul food restaurant The Greasy Spoon at the center. The owner of Champions Village, First National Realty Partners, also recently reached long-term extension agreements with two anchor tenants, grocer Randalls and Barnes & Noble.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Law firm Fee, Smith & Sharp has signed a 10,517-square-foot office lease renewal in southwest Austin. The firm is taking space at the 167,369-square-foot Uplands 1, which was renovated in 2019. Matt Frizzell and Kevin Granger of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, San Francisco-based Drawbridge Realty, in the lease negotiations. John Scoblick and Jerry Frey of Savills represented the tenant.