NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Reatly Corp. has acquired a leasehold position in The Graybar Building for $7.6 million. The 31-story, 1.5 million-square-foot office and retail building is located at 420 Lexington Ave. in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. SL Green first acquired the property in 1998. Earlier this year, the company acquired another leasehold position in the building from W&M Properties and refinanced its mortgage on the property with TIAA-CREF. Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman advised SL Green in the transaction.
HARFORD COUNTY, MD. — Corporate Office Properties Trust has broken ground on an 84,000-square-foot office building in Aberdeen Proving Ground’s North Gate Business Park. The property is located at 210 Research Boulevard in Harford County. DNC Architects designed the space, and Frederick Ward & Associates is providing civil engineering services. When complete, the North Gate Business Park will span 800,000 square feet.
TAMPA, FLA. — Michael Jaworski of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office has brokered the sale of the Palms Center office building between two private parties for $2.7 million. The 25,088-square-foot office building is located at 15043 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Tampa.
HOUSTON — Houston-based Pacific Sun Investments has acquired a 30,000-square-foot office building located in Houston from an investment fund sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management. The property is situated on 3.7 acres at 10411 Westheimer within the city's Westchase submarket. The building was fully occupied at the time of closing, with JPMorgan Chase leasing half of it. Dan Miller and Trent Agnew of the Houston office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler represented the seller, Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Fund. The buyer purchased the property free and clear of debt for an undisclosed amount.
DESOTO, TEXAS — Mote & Associates has brokered the sale of a multi-tenant office building located in DeSoto. The 15,088-square-foot structure is situated on 1 acre at 1666 North Hampton. Bill Mote of Mote & Associates negotiated the deal, and he will continue to lease and manage the property.
PHOENIX — Colliers International has negotiated Snell & Wilmer LLP’s 187,748-square-foot lease renewal at One Arizona Center, located at 400 E. Van Buren St. in Phoenix. Snell & Wilmer initially moved to the Class A office tower in 1992; General Growth Properties acquired the property in 2004. Colliers’ Phil Breidenbach represented the owner in the transaction, and Chuck Nixon of CB Richard Ellis represented Snell & Wilmer.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — AT&T has signed a 110,477-square-foot lease renewal with New Boston Fund for space in the 413,390-square-foot AtlanTech Tower. AT&T currently occupies 25 percent of the Fort Lauderdale property, which also houses CompHealth Group, the corporate offices of Whole Foods Market and Alere. Rick Widerman of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Philadelphia office represented the tenant; Alice Lucia and Sandra Anderson of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office represented the landlord.
PALMER TOWNSHIP, PA. — Atlanta-based IDI has completed a 130,000-square-foot, build-to-suit project in Palmer Township on behalf of Porsche Cars North America. Porsche's Northeast Retail Support Center contains a Porsche Academy Training Center, the automaker's Area East offices and the new Northeast Parts Distribution Center. The project also received LEED-Gold certification, with green features that include a building automation system, an energy-efficient HVAC system, increased roof and wall insulation, a custom-designed lighting system and stormwater management features on the property.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Construction management firm J. Calnan & Associates has completed the multi-phase renovation of Acosta's corporate headquarters in Marlborough. Construction at the 90,000-square-foot building consisted of two main components. The first was the renovation of the sales and marketing company's new space, consisting of a basement and four floors of the building. New offices and conference rooms were constructed, and multiple floors received new paint, carpet and millwork. The first-floor kitchen and cafeteria were demolished and a new cafeteria and dining lounge were constructed in the basement. Also, energy efficient windows, modern furniture and a new entry door were installed. The project architect was Nelson. The second component, which J. Calnan completed on behalf of building owner TA Associates Realty, consisted of the renovation of the space Acosta formerly occupied in the building. A new atrium was created out of the first-floor entry stair and mezzanine. The vacant first-floor kitchen space was remodeled into finished office space with executive offices, a conference room and a kitchenette. The common areas were also refinished and a new glass door entryway was installed.
CHICAGO — Evangelical Covenant Church has purchased a 50,000-square-foot office building, which is located at 8303 Higgins Rd. in Chicago. Akton Realty sold the property for an undisclosed price. Covenant is expected to take occupancy in the first quarter of 2010.