IRVING — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated a 67,200-square-foot industrial lease extension at Freeport/Royal Trade Center, located at 8600 N. Royal Lane in Irving. According to commercialcafé.com, the property was built on 5.8 acres in 1997 and includes office space. John Wolf of NKF represented the tenant, Siemens Real Estate Inc., in the lease negotiations. Lee & Associates represented the landlord, Goldstar Investments.
NEW YORK CITY — Asian cuisine concept wagamama has opened a 6,836-square-foot restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. The new restaurant is located at 100 W. 55th St. and offers 185 seats. The chain’s parent company, The Restaurant Group, has entered a U.S. joint venture partnership with Conversion Venture Capital (CVC2) as financial partners and Robert Cornog Jr. and Richard Flaherty as operating partners. Cornog and Flaherty previously were leaders of Punch Bowl Social, an experiential food and beverage brand. The joint venture plans to open 30 to 40 new restaurants across the United States.
NORWALK, CONN. — Bob’s Discount Furniture has opened a 30,000-square-foot store in Norwalk, a western suburb of Bridgeport. The Manchester, Connecticut-based retailer operates 122 stores across 18 states. The store, which is Bob’s ninth in Connecticut, is located at 59 Connecticut Ave. The building was formerly leased to Toys ‘R’ Us. Benderson Development acquired the property during the toy retailer’s asset liquidation.
NEW YORK CITY — Law firm Rivkin Radler LLP has signed a 14,888-square-foot office lease expansion in Midtown Manhattan. The company is already a tenant at 477 Madison Avenue and will move into its new space after ownership completes the build-out later this year. The law firm represented itself in the lease negotiations. A.J. Camhi, Rob Weller and Ryan Silverman led a leasing team that represented the building owner, RFR, on an internal basis.
NEW YORK CITY — CBRE has negotiated a 9,397-square-foot office lease for co-living space provider The Collective in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. The tenant will occupy the entire top floor and penthouse of the SoHo Building located at 110 Greene St. beginning in early March. Alexander Golod and Neil King of CBRE represented The Collective in the lease negotiations. SL Green Realty Corp. owns the building.
PLANO, TEXAS — Transwestern Commercial Services (TCS) has negotiated three leases totaling 145,000 square feet at an office building located at 3033 W. President George Bush Turnpike in Plano. Nathan Durham and Duane Henley of TCS represented the landlord, Champion Partners, in all three lease negotiations. Brad Struck and Roy Reis of ESRP represented Paragon Healthcare in its 70,000-square-foot lease; Clay Vaughn and Preston Lynn of CBRE represented Australian technology firm Appen Inc. in its 50,000-square-foot lease; and a team led by Scott Hobbs of Cushman & Wakefield represented a division of Samsung in its 25,000-square-foot lease.
PASADENA, TEXAS — Dunavant Distribution Group LLC, a logistics and supply chain operator, has signed a 137,280-square-foot industrial lease at Bay Area Business Park in the eastern Houston suburb of Pasadena. John Nicholson of Colliers International represented Dunavant, which now occupies just under 1 million square feet in Bay Area Business Park, in the lease negotiations. Justin Robinson and Jeff Pate of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, PEPF Red Bluff.
CHICAGO — Fairgrounds Coffee & Tea has signed a 2,623-square-foot retail lease at 306 West Erie, an office development currently under construction in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The location will serve as the company’s seventh coffee shop in the Chicago area. The building is the first phase of Verso, a three-building office redevelopment undertaken by North Wells Capital and Urban Innovations. Renovation work began in late 2019 to expand and modernize the property. JLL is the leasing agent for 306 West Erie and the entire Verso portfolio.
DALLAS — Global architecture firm PDR is expanding its presence in Texas with the opening of a regional office at 2001 Ross Ave. in downtown Dallas. Since its founding in 1977, the Houston-based firm has worked on projects in Dallas for major companies like ExxonMobil, Texas Instruments and USAA. Partner and principal Marc Bellamy will lead the Dallas office along with senior associates Justin Dezendorf and Jenny Segsworth.
CHICAGO — Medical video game company Level Ex has expanded its footprint and relocated to 180 North LaSalle Street, a 38-story, 760,000-square-foot office tower in the Chicago Loop. Level Ex’s new headquarters is more than 20,000 square feet, double the size of its previous office in River North. The sublease commenced in early 2020. Jon Azulay and Adam Mitchell of Savills represented Level Ex in the lease negotiations. Level Ex creates mobile, augmented reality and virtual reality games for physicians. The company uses video game technology and cognitive neuroscience to capture the challenges of practicing medicine. Owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge, 180 North LaSalle is located at the corner of LaSalle and Lake streets. James Stein and Jack Tunnicliff of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sublandlord, Newell.