HARTFORD, CONN. — S.H. Smith & Co. has signed a lease for 21,000 square feet at 20 Church Street, a Class A office building located in downtown Hartford. The insurance broker will relocate its company headquarters to the new office from its previous location in West Hartford. John McCormick, Patrick Mulready and Alexis Augsberger of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, Morristown, N.J.-based The Hampshire Companies, in lease negotiations. Hampshire acquired the property in 2006 as part of its Hampshire Partners Fund VI and has since completed significant capital improvements to it.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bob Donhauser, Bill Asbill and Cary Abod of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s Washington office have secured $100.5 million in financing for a 310,825-square-foot office building. The property, located at 1101 K St. N.W. in Washington, is owned by a joint venture between Chevy Chase, Md.-based The JBG Cos. and Rockwood Capital. Building tenants include FTI Consulting, Brunswick Capital, District of Columbia Bar Association and Brasserie Back. Helaba provided funding for the 3-year, adjustable-rate loan, which replaced a Bank of America construction loan.
OWINGS MILLS, MD. — Columbia, Md.-based James M. Jost & Co. has broken ground on the 90,000-square-foot McDonogh Village and Professional Center, a four-story, Class A office complex with ground-floor retail space. The property spans 8 acres at 8890 McDonogh Rd. in Owings Mills. The space is divided into office suites, which feature 9-foot ceiling heights, high-speed Internet and public utilities. The building is being marketed to professional, medical and service-related companies.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Black & Veatch, an engineering, consulting and construction company, has acquired the building it currently occupies in Overland Park to serve as its global headquarters. The company purchased the 600,000-square-foot building at 11401 Lamar Ave. for $60 million, and has plans to expand the complex with an additional 250,000-square-foot building in the future. It is the largest office building in the state of Kansas. Black & Veatch has been the sole occupant of the building since it was built in 1976.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Richards Barry Joyce & Partners (RBJP) has negotiated four leases totaling 140,466 square feet within Solomon Pond Park in Marlborough. John Lashar, Brian McKenzie and Paul Leone of RBJP represented the landlord, DGI Holdings III LLC, in each of the transactions. AREVA signed a lease for 43,709 square feet of office space at 400 Donald Lynch Blvd. Blue Cod Technologies renewed and expanded its lease to occupy the entire 40,019-square-foot office building located at 295 Donald Lynch Blvd. In addition, it signed a new lease for 29,763 square feet of space at 500 Donald Lynch Blvd. Finally, Park Place International signed a lease for 26,975 square feet of office and light industrial space at 500 Donald Lynch Blvd. Solomon Pond Park is owned by a joint venture between Great Point Investors and Nordic Properties. The 163-acre, master-planned business park includes more than 700,000 square feet of office, research and development and flex industrial space. The park also contains Solomon Pond Mall, a Marriott Residence Inn hotel, an in-park childcare center, a 2-mile jogging trail, an on-site cafeteria and outdoor meeting areas.
HOUSTON — John Nicholson and Doug Nicholson of Grubb & Ellis’ Houston office have secured an approximately 145,000-square-foot lease at Portwall Distribution Center in Houston on behalf of Cadeco Industries Inc. The warehouse space, located at 530-542 Portwall St., is split between two single-story buildings. The first comprises 81,000 square feet; the second has 62,820 square feet. Houston-based Warehouse Associates owns the 7-acre property and represented itself in the lease transaction.
RENO, NEV. — United Construction Co. has completed the construction of its corporate office, which is located at 5300 Mill St. in Reno. The 12,350-square-foot building includes interior courtyards, lighting control systems to reduce energy use and recycled building materials purchased from local sources to minimize gas consumption.
LA MIRADA, CALIF. — Champion Exposition Services has signed a 5-year lease for a 76,244-square-foot office building in La Mirada. Located at 14701 Industry Circle, the property lease is valued at $3.3 million. Cameron Driscoll and Luke McDaniel of Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Anaheim, Calif., office represented the lessee; Steve Sprenger of Grubb & Ellis represented the lessor, Berns & Sanderson, in the transaction.
MONITOR TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Construction is advancing for the new $16 million corporate headquarters and warehousing facility for Fabiano Brothers, located in Monitor Township. The 191,000-square-foot facility, which was designed by St. Louis-based HDA Architects, includes a concrete tilt-up warehouse, as well as an office component that features a lobby with skylights and granite accents, a state-of-the-art boardroom and a hospitality room with an upscale bar. The project is situated on 24 acres within the 71-acre Market Place Corporate Center. Fabiano Brothers is developing the business park, with HDA Architects providing master-planning services. Fabiano Brothers was established in 1911 and is one of the largest alcohol wholesalers in the state of Michigan.
NEW YORK CITY — The Kaufman Organization has arranged a 32,359-square-foot office lease at 1407 Broadway, a 42-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office building located in the Fashion District of Manhattan, New York City, for Geneva Watch Group. The watchmaker will occupy a full floor of the building and will relocate is corporate headquarters here from its previous location in Long Island City, Queens. The office space features a wraparound terrace that runs the length of an entire city block. The price of the lease was not disclosed, but the asking price was $52 per square foot. It carries a 10-year term. Grant Greenspan and Michael Heaner of Kaufman represented the undisclosed landlord. Geneva Watch Group was represented by Steven Kaplan and Jack Wallis of Lansco Corp.