PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The 300 Kimball Drive building in Parsippany has been awarded LEED Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s program for existing buildings. Awarded the assignment to reposition and re-tenant the former State Farm Insurance headquarters a year ago, Transwestern has orchestrated extensive renovations and upgrading of the 12-year-old, Class A office building. Transwestern’s Sustainability Services division worked with its on-site property management team to bring the 400,000-square-foot building’s operations and maintenance to LEED standards.
IRVING, TEXAS — The Boulder Group, a net-leased investment brokerage firm specializing in single-tenant assets, has arranged the sale of a net-leased Home Depot office building in Irving for $2.2 million. The 18,538-square-foot property is located at 2951 Kinwest Parkway in the Las Colinas submarket. Home Depot's lease features multiple 10 percent rent escalations in the lease's primary term. There is approximately six years remaining on the lease. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a private Chicago-based partnership, in the transaction. The buyer was a high-net-worth individual based in Texas.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — PetroQuest Energy Inc. has signed a 13,091-square-foot lease for a regional office on the second floor of One Hughes Landing, an office building being developed along the 200-acre Lake Woodlands in The Woodlands. The 197,000-square-foot, Class A office building is now 35 percent pre-leased. One Hughes Landing is the first office building in Hughes Landing, a 66-acre, mixed-use development that will feature up to eight office buildings, upscale restaurants and retailers, entertainment venues, a specialty grocer, hotel and multifamily residences housing up to 1,000 people. Houston-based Gensler designed the office building for LEED Silver certification. The office building is slated for completion in September and PetroQuest will occupy its space in November. Robert Parsley and Norman Munoz of Colliers International represented the landlord, The Woodlands Development Co., a subsidiary of The Howard Hughes Corp., in the transaction. Jim Pratt, also of Colliers, represented the tenant.
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — Park Square, a 465,000-square-foot office/R&D business park in Santa Clara, has sold to the Irvine Company for an undisclosed sum. It is situated adjacent to Highway 101 near Lawrence Expressway. The center is 60 percent leased. The seller, a joint venture between two global investment managers, was represented by HFF’s Michael Leggett, Steven Golubchik and John Simerlein.
ATLANTA — Crocker Partners has acquired Atlantic Center Plaza, a 23-story office tower in Atlanta's Midtown submarket. A joint venture between Crocker and the Distressed Real Estate Opportunities Fund, managed by Siguler Guff & Co. LP, recapitalized the 500,000-square-foot building. Crocker now owns 1.7 million square feet in the Atlanta market. Last year, the firm acquired the 18-story Prominence building in Buckhead and an adjacent 6.4-acre parcel for a proposed 700-unit apartment project. Crocker had previously owned Atlantic Center Plaza, but had sold it in 2005. It is one of several assets the firm previously owned and recently re-acquired. No brokers were involved in the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Behavioral Ideas Lab Inc., a nonprofit research organization, has signed a 9,155-square-foot lease at 80 Broad St. in New York City. The organization will occupy the entire 30th floor for a 10-year term. Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity firm, is the landlord of the property. Adam Baruch and James Emden of Colliers International represented the tenant in the transaction.
HOUSTON — ConocoPhillips, the world's largest energy exploration and production company, has signed an 850,000-square-foot, long-term lease encompassing two new office buildings in Houston's Energy Corridor. The company will fully occupy the 550,000-square-foot Energy Center Three, which is currently under construction, by the second quarter of 2015. Additionally, in 2016 the firm will lease an additional 300,000 square feet in Energy Center Four, a planned 600,000-square-foot office building slated to commence construction later this year. The facilities will serve as the consolidated location for ConocoPhillips' Lower 48 Business unit, which is focused on exploration and production operations throughout the lower 48 states. The Energy Center campus will include an active greenspace to provide common outdoor areas for activities, and Energy Center Three and Energy Center Four will include energy-efficient features to help achieve LEED Gold certification. A joint venture between Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors (PREI) is developing the office campus. Aaron Thielhorn, Kevin Schmok and Brandon Houston of Trammell Crow, along with Joe Wanninger of PREI, will lead the development team. Cody Armbrister and Steve Rocher of CBRE's Houston office represented the joint venture in the transaction with ConocoPhillips.
SAN FRANCISCO – A pair of office buildings have changed hands in San Francisco. They include the 330 Townsend Street in the South of Market (SOMA) district and 995 Market Street in the city’s mid-Market corridor. CIM Group purchased the Townsend property for an undisclosed sum. It is 98 percent leased to a variety of creative and professional service firms. The Market Street property was purchased by 995 Market Street SF Investment, which was a joint venture between Columbia Pacific Advisors and Long Market Property Partners. It is anchored by Black Rock City, which produces the famous Burning Man Festival. The new owner plans to implement a significant capital improvement program at the site in order to attract creative and high-tech tenants. Mike Taquino, Daniel Cressman and Kyle Kovac of Newmark Knight Frank Cornish & Carey Commercial Capital Group represented the Townsend seller, ATC Partners, as well as the Market Street buyer.
LISLE, ILL. — Primera Engineers Ltd., an engineering design, management and consulting firm, has expanded its lease to 19,101 square feet of office space at 550-650 Warrenville Road in Lisle. The 172,695-square-foot building is located within Corporetum VI, an office campus along I-88. Following the deal, the property is now 85 percent occupied. Patrick Kiefer, Jim Adler and Dan O'Neill of NAI Hiffman represented the landlord, Winthrop Realty Trust, in the transaction. David Miller and Jesse Van Dyke of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant.
HOUSTON — Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT Inc. has purchased a 149,700-square-foot, Class A office building in Houston's Energy Corridor for $48.7 million. The property is fully leased, with 97 percent of the building leased to Schlumberger Technology Corp., a subsidiary of Schlumberger Limited. The office building serves as Schlumberger Limited's base for its Financial Hub operations.