AUSTIN, TEXAS — General contractor Swinerton has broken ground on WORKBENCH, an 45,384-square-foot mass timber office project in East Austin. Designed by locally based architecture firm Dick Clark & Associates, the four-story building will include retail showroom and restaurant space as well as underground parking. Lindgren Development owns WORKBENCH, which is 75 percent preleased to tenants including Beck-Reit Commercial Real Estate, Legacy Lighting and Art + Artisans, as well as Swinerton. All of these groups are also partners on the project. Completion is slated for early 2026.
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FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Shield Engineering Group has signed a 16,608-square-foot office lease renewal and expansion in Fort Worth. The space is located within First Cash Plaza, a nine-story, 155,125-square-foot building located near the downtown area. Alex Bryant of Street Realty Partners represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Jake Neal and Matt Carthey of Holt Lunsford Commercial represented the landlord, First Cash Inc., a pawn store operator with more than 3,000 retail locations in North and South America.
AYER, MASS. — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a 113,382-square-foot headquarters lease in Ayer, located northwest of Boston. The industrial building at 3 Nemco Way features 20 tailboard loading docks, high-bay distribution warehouse capabilities and office space. Nick Bruha, Blake Baldwin and Shayne O’Neil of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, laboratory equipment supplier CELLTREAT Scientific Products, in the lease negotiations. The name and representative of the landlord were not disclosed.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Drawbridge Realty has purchased 2220 Colorado Avenue, a six-story, Class A office building in Santa Monica, from Clarion Partners for an undisclosed price. Universal Music Group (UMG) fully occupies the 225,773-square-foot building on a long-term, net-lease basis. The Netherlands-based company uses the property as its operational headquarters. 2220 Colorado Avenues has two UMG-operated recording studios, several upscale conference facilities, secure parking with direct elevator access, an onsite food commissary and coffee bar, collaboration areas and outdoor decks. Kevin Shannon, Alex Foshay, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm and Michael Moll of Newmark represented the seller in the transaction.
MILFORD, N.H. — Locally based design-build firm PROCON has broken ground on a 57,000-square-foot industrial flex project in Milford, located near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The project is a build-to-suit for Hitchiner, a provider of casting-based components and assemblies for the aerospace and automotive industries, and will serve as a “shared services operations” center on the company’s existing campus. Completion is scheduled for fall 2025.
— By Colin Yasukochi, executive director, Tech Insights Center, CBRE — An increasing supply of distressed properties for sale has been met with enthusiasm by a growing number of opportunistic buyers in San Francisco. Prices up to 70 percent lower than the seller’s cost basis, combined with improving fundamentals, has given investors confidence to make property purchases ahead of substantial leasing market recovery. About $1 billion of office sales volume could be reached by year-end 2024. There are 27 properties totaling 3.6 million square feet that have sold (totaling $338 million), are under contract (totaling $193 million) or being marketed ($453 million). If this occurs, it would be the highest number of properties sold since 2019 and the highest square footage and dollar volume since 2021. The years 2022 and 2023 combined had a total sales volume of $945 million. Stabilization in the office leasing market has emerged with vacancy and rents little changed and much higher space demand. Second-quarter 2024 vacancy ticked up to 36.8 percent (+0.1 percent), while average asking rents ticked down to $68.43 (-$0.12) compared to the previous quarter. Demand indicators strengthened with leasing activity and tenants in the market rising in the second quarter of …
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Law firm ArentFox Schiff has signed a 120,999-square foot lease at Midtown Center, an office building located in downtown Washington, D.C. The firm will relocate its D.C. headquarters to the 14-story property, occupying the entirety of three floors. Fannie Mae also recently signed a 340,000-square-foot lease at the building, which is owned by Carr Properties. The developer completed Midtown Center, which features two towers connected by three pedestrian buildings, in 2017. SHoP Architects designed the property.
IRVING, TEXAS — SiriusXM has signed a 58,350-square-foot office lease renewal in Irving. The Manhattan-based auditory broadcasting giant will remain the sole tenant at Building III of Freeport Business Center, which according to LoopNet Inc. was originally constructed in 1999, for an unspecified period of time. Tim Terrell and Rhett Miller with Stream Realty Partners represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations. Ryan Buchanan of CBRE represented SiriusXM.
NEW YORK CITY — National general contractor JT Magen has completed the 180,000-square-foot office build-out for law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer at 3 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The space spans four levels and features a kitchen and cafeteria with food service, a dedicated barista and grab-and-go coffee station, as well as several breakout and meeting spaces that encourage collaborative interactions. Gensler designed the space, and Robert Derector Associates handled engineering initiatives.
NEW YORK CITY — Weaver & Tidwell LLP has signed a 36,500-square-foot office lease expansion at PENN 1, a newly redeveloped office building in Midtown Manhattan. The accounting firm is expanding from an 8,000-square-foot space on the second floor to the entire 28th floor of the 55-story building. Neil Goldmacher and Michael Horn of Newmark represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Josh Glick, Jared Silverman and Anthony Cugini represented the landlord, Vornado Realty Trust, on an internal basis.