By Marc DeLuca, CEO and eastern regional president, KBS Refreshing office properties with updated amenities is a time-tested strategy for infusing buildings with new life and appealing to future and existing tenants. While an asset’s location is a fixed element and a region’s fundamentals tend to change slowly, amenities are more flexible and can usually be implemented quickly if necessary for immediate impact. A recent report by flexible workspace provider TCC Canada found that many companies and their team members increasingly recognize the benefits of gathering teams in a central workplace. But after more than two years of varying degrees of remote work, it makes sense for property owners to invest in amenities that actually meet the needs and wants of office users — which have recently shifted. So which amenities are the best ones to include in today’s office buildings? As an owner and operator of premier office assets for the last 30 years, KBS has witnessed amenity preferences come and go. We know how to spot a passing fad versus a trend with legs. Based on our expertise in this area, here are a few amenities we see attracting office tenants in the current and emerging environment. Scalable …
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Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Negotiates $24M Sale of Hampton Roads Office Property in Virginia
by John Nelson
CHESAPEAKE, VA. — Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group has negotiated the sale of Crossways I & II, a 213,955-square-foot office property located at 1434 Crossways Blvd. in Chesapeake, a city in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region. Seminole Trail Properties acquired the asset for $24 million and is bringing on affiliate Seminole Trail Management to operate the property. Eric Robison, Bo McKown and Christine Kaempfe of Thalhimer represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Kenneth Penrose Jr., also with Thalhimer, represented the buyer. Originally developed in 1999 and expanded in 2002, Crossways I & II was fully 100 leased at the time of sale to tenants including anchor Conduent Business Services, a publicly traded international business services provider that specializes in healthcare and human resources solutions. Conduent occupies more than 50 percent of the property, and the remaining space is leased to insurance, education and financial services firms.
NEW YORK CITY — Kimmerle Group, a New Jersey-based design-build firm, has completed a 175,000-square-foot office and showroom renovation project at 11 Penn Plaza in Manhattan. The project is a build-to-suit for SPARC Group, a provider of apparel and accessories whose brands include Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer and Forever 21. Specialty areas include mock stores for national retail buildout models, showrooms to support the wholesale business and designer workshops.
SOMERSET, N.J. — Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has signed a 20,000-square-foot office lease at Somerset Corporate Center I in Bridgewater, located in the northern part of the Garden State. Gregg Najarian and Slava Vaynberg of Savills represented Lexicon, which is relocating from Basking Ridge in the first quarter of 2023, in the lease negotiations. Other tenants at Somerset Corporate Center, which is owned by SJP Properties, include Qualcomm, Oracle and Merrill Lynch.
Orsett Properties Sells 149,321 SF The Reserve at San Tan Office Property in Arizona for $53.1M
by Amy Works
GILBERT, ARIZ. — Orsett Properties has completed the sale of The Reserve at San Tan, a trophy-quality office property in Gilbert. West Valley Properties acquired the asset for $53.1 million. Built in 2020 on 12.8 acres, The Reserve at San Tan features 149,321 square of office space spread across two three-story multi-tenant office buildings connected by a common area tenant amenity lounge. The building offers high-end spec suites with open ceilings, creative office finishes and abundant covered surface parking. Additional features include monument signage, building signage, tenant lounges, PRESS coffee on-site and conference facilities. CJ Osbrink, Scott Scharlach and Kevin Shannon of Newmark handled the transaction. Mike Garlick, also of Newmark, assisted in the sale and was retained by the buyer to lead leasing efforts at the property.
GOLDEN, COLO. — North Beacon Capital has acquired Cole Center, a recently renovated office building at 1687-1707 Cole Blvd. in Golden, which is in the Denver West region. Bancroft Capital and Viking Partners sold the asset for $32.7 million. Renovated in 2021, the four-story Cole Center features 155,610 square feet of multi-tenant office space. On-site amenities include an outdoor plaza with covered seating, 201 subterranean parking spaces, a new fitness center with showers and lockers, and on-site bike storage. At the time of sale, the property was 88 percent leased with 75 percent of the tenants being investment grade. Larry Thiel and Jason Schmidt of JLL Capital Markets represented the seller in the transaction.
HOBOKEN, N.J. — Northmarq has arranged a $26.4 million acquisition loan for the Hudson Tea Parking Garage in Hoboken. Built in 2004 by multifamily developer Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), the eight-story structure spans 389,984 square feet and houses 1,250 parking spaces. Daniel Karp of Northmarq arranged the fixed-rate financing on behalf of the borrower, Boston-based LAZ Parking Realty Investors. The loan carried a 10-year term with five years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule.
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — CBRE has arranged the sale of 625 Lincoln Avenue, a medical office building in San Jose. The Sobrato Organization sold the asset to El Camino Health, the current tenant, for $19.5 million. El Camino Health uses the 35,272-square-foot medical office building for urgent and primary care. Scott Prosser, Joe Moriarty, Jack DePuy, Mike Taquino, Kyle Kovac and Alec Haley of CBRE represented the seller in the deal.
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Law firm Archer & Greiner PC has signed a 22,382-square-foot office lease renewal at Court Plaza, a 335,000-square-foot office complex located at 35 Main St. in Hackensack. Amenities at the three-building complex include a fitness center, cafeteria and a conference room, as well as an onsite bank, dry cleaning service and car detailing shop. Stephen Jennings internally represented the landlord, Alfred Sanzari Enterprises, in the lease negotiations. Jack Fatigati of Morford & Dodds Realty represented the tenant.
Parkview Financial Funds $35M Loan for CMNTY Culture Campus Development Project in Hollywood
by Amy Works
LOS ANGELES — Parkview Financial has provided a $35 million loan to CMNTY Culture for the acquisition of a land assemblage situated at the northeast corner of the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles’ Hollywood district. The site comprises four contiguous parcels totaling 1.88 acres at 1518-1836 N. Highland Ave. and 6751-6767 W. Sunset Blvd. One parcel at 6767 W. Sunset Blvd. was purchased in July 2021 for $9.1 million. Parkview provided the loan to facilitate the acquisition of the three remaining parcels, which were recently purchased for $44 million. Once fully rezoned and entitled, the ownership plans to construct CMNTY Culture Campus that will include two towers – one 13 stories and one 14 stories – totaling approximately 500,000 square feet of creative office and studio/production space with six subterranean parking levels. The four parcels consist of U-shaped land that currently features a strip retail center, live performance venue, plant nursery and two surface parking plots. The owner plans to demolish the buildings for the new development. HKS Architects is serving as project architect and Oakland-based Hood Design Studio is serving as landscape designer.