CHELMSFORD, MASS. — Spectro Inc. has signed a six-year lease for 27,911 square feet of office space at 1 Executive Drive in Chelmsford. Spectro supplies oil and fuel analysis instruments to industry and military markets. The company will relocate from its current headquarters in Littleton, Mass., this summer. Stephen James and David Gilkie of NAI Hunneman represented the tenant in the transaction. Matt Adams of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, RREEF.
HOUSTON — Frontier Equity has acquired the 286,000-square-foot Kirkwood Tower III, a 15-story, Class A office building located in Houston's Energy Corridor. Frontier purchased the property in a partnership with Amstar Advisers. The property is currently 72 percent leased, and PM Realty Group is handling the office building's leasing activity. HFF assisted Frontier Equity in securing acquisition financing, and Holt Lunsford Commercial will manage the property.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Holder Properties has broken ground on the $17 million, 52,000-square-foot 174 Meeting Street, a Class A office building located in Charleston. The four-story building will include a CertusBank branch, ATM and parking. Additionally, CertusBank has signed a lease to occupy the second floor. McMillian Pazdan Smith Architecture designed the property, which Trident Construction is building. Completion is slated for April 2013.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — EF Education First has selected Skanska as the design-build contractor for its $65 million, 285,243-square-foot new headquarters in Cambridge. The 11-story office building will include a supplementary ground floor, mezzanine space and three levels of above-ground parking. Completion is slated for February 2014.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — New Boston Fund has sold the 89,875-square-foot One Alewife Center, a Class A office building located in Cambridge, to Brookwood Financial Partners. Tenants include Basis Technology, Genstruct and Beacon Interactive System, ROI Solutions and CO3 Systems. Chris McMahon and Doug Adamian of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Boston office represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was self-represented.
ENCINO, CALIF. — Barrister Executive Suites has signed a lease renewal for the seventh floor of the Encino Financial Center. The center, which is also known as the City National Bank Building, is located at 16133 Ventura Blvd. in Encino. Barrister has occupied this 18,497-square-foot space since 1977. Barrister was represented by David DeFore from CBRE’s Universal City office. The landlord is Lowe Enterprises.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CBRE Group has secured $119.8 million in acquisition financing for the 678,715-square-foot Fifth Third Center, a Class A office building located at 201 N. Tryon St. in Charlotte. The property is 98 percent leased to tenants that include Bank of America, McGuire Woods, Fifth Third Bank and Carousel Capital. Charles Foschini, Christian Lee and Christopher Apone of CBRE Group secured the two-part financing on behalf of the borrower, Miami-based Parmenter Realty Partners. SunTrust provided a three-year loan and Redwood Commercial Mortgage Corp. provided a mezzanine loan.
MINNEAPOLIS — First and First LLC has purchased three office buildings in Minneapolis located at 244, 248 and 252 First Ave. in the Historic Warehouse District for $1.2 million. The buildings, known as the Yamamoto Moss Offices, total 42,000 square feet. Together, there are three office users that occupy 75 percent of the buildings. Josh Floring of The Ackerberg Group represented the seller, Yamamoto Moss Leasing Co., in the transaction.
COLLEGEVILLE, PA. — The Dow Chemical Co. has agreed to move its Northeast USA Technology Center from Spring House, Pa. to Collegeville. The company plans to open a 750,000-square-foot research and development facility, located within the Pfizer Pharmaceutical campus on Acrola Road. Dow plans to relocate 800 employees, who will begin moving to the site as early as the first quarter of 2013.
SECAUCUS, N.J. — ZT Systems has inked a lease for 23,451 square feet of office space in Secaucus, which will serve as the company's new headquarters. The building is located at 333 Meadowlands Parkway and the tech firm will occupy the entire second floor. Frank Lopriore of Colliers International represented the tenant in the transaction. Josh Osborne of Bergman Real Estate Group represented the building owner. Built in 1981, 333 Meadowlands is part of the Harmon Cove office complex. Other tenants in the park include MSNBC and Panasonic.