HOUSTON — Lee & Associates has negotiated a 75,000-square-foot office lease at Republic Square, a 35-acre, newly renovated campus located along the Katy Freeway in West Houston. According to LoopNet Inc., Republic Square was built in 1980, renovated in 2020 and totals 324,546 square feet. Bill Insull and Blake Virgilio of Lee & Associates, along with internal agent Jon Herbster, represented the landlord, Houston EC Development LLC, in the lease negotiations. Bob Cromwell and Bob Gulley of Moody Rambin, in conjunction with Zack Taylor of Colliers, represented the tenant, Fugro, which provides geotechnical surveying services.
RED BANK, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $12.8 million sale of a 28,110-square-foot office and retail building in the Northern New Jersey community of Red Bank. The three-story building was constructed in 2000 and consists of two levels of office space and ground-floor retail space that is anchored by Urban Outfitters. Alan Cafiero, Brent Hyldahl and Seth Goldberg of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and procured the buyer, both of which were limited liability companies that requested anonymity, in the transaction. Joseph Belgiovine of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged acquisition financing for the deal.
TEANECK, N.J. — Newmark has negotiated an office lease expansion at Glenpointe Centre East in the Northern New Jersey community of Teaneck. Jeff Schotz, Peter Rossi, Dan Reider, Peter Kasparian and David Simson of Newmark represented the landlord, locally based investment firm Alfred Sanzari Enterprises, in the lease negotiations. Andrew Zezas of Real Estate Strategies Corp. represented the tenant, Interstate Waste Services, which has leased space at Glenpointe Center East since 2013 and now occupies about 18,000 square feet.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — Syracuse University has leased 21,377 square feet of space at a nine-story office building in North Hollywood. The building is located at 5250 Lankershim Blvd. The space will house the university’s growing “SU in LA” semester programs, a career-oriented initiative for students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Visual & Performing Arts. Marty Barkan represented Syracuse University in the lease negotiations. Patrick Church and Anneke Greco of JLL represented the landlord, DivcoWest.
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Inquirer has opened a new, 36,500-square-foot office at 100 S. Independence Mall West in the Old City district. Locally based architecture firm Meyer designed the office, which can accommodate 200 people and represents a consolidated physical footprint. The newspaper employs about 400 people who will utilize the space on a rotating basis and work in “neighborhood” spaces that support individual departments like news, marketing, human resources and administration. Newmark represented the Inquirer in its site selection and lease negotiations. Keystone Property Groups owns the building.
NEW YORK CITY — MillerKnoll, a family of home décor and furnishing brands, has signed a 15,331-square-foot office lease at 251 Park Avenue South in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood. The 16-story building was originally constructed in 1909. Justin Royce of Cushman & Wakefield represented MillerKnoll in the lease negotiations. Andrew Wiener and Robert Fisher internally represented the landlord, The Feil Organization, which acquired the asset in 2015 and implemented a capital improvement program. Combined with its ground-floor retail space, MillerKnoll now occupies about 60,000 square feet at 251 Park Avenue South.
With office vacancy rates in the District of Columbia at 20 percent and climbing, officials believe that converting office buildings to residential space is an important component of revitalizing downtown Washington. These complex projects pose both practical and administerial challenges, however. For developers, one important consideration of such a redevelopment is its real estate tax implications. High hopes District leaders announced earlier this year that they hope to add 15,000 residents to the central business district over the next five years – an ambitious goal. The hope is that bringing residents to live downtown will create a more vibrant neighborhood where people live, work, and dine. The stark reality is that the District of Columbia has one of the lowest return-to-office rates in the country. Actual occupancy in the D.C. metro was only 43 percent in mid-April and drops below 25 percent on Fridays, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks office occupancy. Workers simply aren’t returning to Downtown D.C. While residential conversions may be one piece of the puzzle in addressing D.C.’s downtown woes, converting an office building into a residential property is no small feat. Here are a few important factors relating to real estate taxes to keep in …
CLEARWATER, FLA. — Kennedy Wilson Brokerage, a division of Kennedy-Wilson Properties Ltd., has brokered the $19.6 million sale of an eight-story office building in Clearwater. Gary Goodgame, Jeremy Dee and Max Browne of Kennedy Wilson Brokerage represented the seller, Mercury Casualty Co. (i.e. Mercury Insurance), in the transaction. Convergent Capital Partners, a Tampa-based investment group, is the buyer and is planning to make renovations to the property. Located at 1901 Ulmerton Road, the 157,000-square-foot building is located on a 7.3-acre site in Clearwater’s Feather Sound area and features a gym, café and five-story parking garage. The building was delivered in 1999 and currently has approximately 100,000 square feet available for lease. K.C. Tenukas, Kristin Kenney and Nick Baldwin of CBRE will be marketing the building for lease on behalf of Convergent Capital.
IRVINE, CALIF. — Premier Workspaces has taken over a co-working location at 100 Spectrum Center Drive in the Irvine Spectrum area. Formerly a Carr Workplaces, this 24,200-square-foot location offers ninth-floor views, 87 private offices, three serviced meeting rooms, an on-demand office and a common area lounge with on-site hospitality staff. This latest transaction expands Premier Workspace’s footprint in Irvine to more than 233,000 square feet across 10 locations.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — IBM will relocate its Austin office campus to The Domain, a 300-acre mixed-use development on the city’s north side, by 2027, according to several media outlets including The Austin American-Statesman and Axios. The former publication reports that IBM, which employs about 6,000 people in Austin, will take about 320,000 square feet across two newly constructed buildings at 11901 MoPac Expressway. The latter publication reports that the interconnected buildings will both rise 14 stories and that the tech giant intends to occupy the entirety of one tower and a small portion of the other. Bo Beacham and John Barksdale of CBRE represented the landlord, Hines, in the lease negotiations.