ALLENTOWN, PA. — Allentown-based Summit Management & Realty Co. has negotiated the purchase of a 7,100-square-foot office building located in Allentown. Situated at 1176 N. Irving St., the property traded for approximately $670,000. Summit’s Jennifer Gold represented the buyer, Cornerstone Consulting Engineer & Architectural, which will use the facility as its new corporate headquarters. The seller was not disclosed.
HOUSTON — Hess Corp. has signed a long-term lease to occupy all of Discovery Tower, a high-rise office tower under construction at 1501 McKinney St. in downtown Houston. The project, which is being developed by a joint venture between Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate, has been under construction since March 2008. Given the early stage of construction, the tower is being customized to accommodate Hess Corp. It will rise 29 stories and total 844,763 square feet. Other features, such as floor plate sizes and ceiling heights, are also being customized. The project, which has been renamed Hess Tower, is applying for LEED-Gold certification and, upon receiving the designation, will be the first LEED-Gold office building in Houston’s central business district. Completion is scheduled for summer 2010. Hess Corp. will relocate from its current offices in Houston’s Allen Center to Hess Tower in 2011. Hess Corp. was represented in lease negotiations by Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield. Trammell Crow and Principal were represented by John Pruitt and Cody Armbrister of CB Richard Ellis.
LA JOLLA, CALIF. — Touchstone Investments and Angelo Gordon & Company have completed the renovation of a 93,000-square-foot lab/office building, which is located at 11099 N. Torrey Pines Rd. in La Jolla. The renovations to the common area include new seating and collaboration spaces in the main commons area, and upgrades to the main lobby entry, restrooms and elevators. Additionally, the renovations include two high-profile tenant identification monuments located on North Torrey Pines Road and in front of the main lobby entrance of the building.
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Roseland, N.J.-based The Gale Construction Company has commenced a 100,000-square-foot interior office renovation and build-out for the Shaw Group at 224 and 228 Strawbridge Rd. in Moorestown. Construction will comprise 75,000 square feet of 228 Strawbridge Rd. and 25,000 square feet of 224 Strawbridge Rd. Improvements will include a system network room, modular partitions and workstations, upgraded HVAC and energy management systems, a reproduction room and conference rooms. The two office buildings are owned by Mack-Cali Realty Corp., of which Gale Construction is a subsidiary. The construction timetable was not released.
IRVING, TEXAS — An affiliate of Research in Motion has acquired Riverside Commons, a six-building, 460,297-square-foot office campus located in the Las Colinas submarket of Irving. Constructed in 1986, the campus comprises 13 acres in a park-like setting. It recently underwent a $5.7 million renovation and repositioning campaign. Occupancy was 86 percent at the time of closing. The largest tenant presently at Riverside Commons is Sprint Nextel Corp., which occupies 211,315 square feet. Research in Motion had previously occupied 134,177 square feet at the property, which it was using as its company headquarters. Research in Motion was represented by Pat O’Keefe of CB Richard Ellis’ Dallas office; Gary Carr and Eric Mackey, also of the firm’s Dallas office, represented the seller, Dallas-based Westmount Realty Capital. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Research in Motion is most known as the maker of the Blackberry mobile device.
COPPELL, TEXAS — Duke Realty Corp. has leased all of Point West I, a 182,700-square-foot office building located at 1525 South Beltline in Coppell, to American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (AHMSI). Point West I is a three-story structure that was developed on spec by Duke in 2008. AHMSI will be relocating its headquarters to the building from its previous location in Irving, Texas. AHMSI was represented in lease negotiations by Bo Bond and Forshey Hoobler of the Dallas office of Jones Lang LaSalle. Duke was represented in-house by Ben Appleby of the company’s Dallas office, along with Dale Ray and Joel Pustmueller of Peloton Realty Advisors. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
ROCKWALL, TEXAS — Colleyville, Texas-based Realty Capital Corp. has disposed of a 3,650-square-foot office building located within The Offices of Horizon Ridge office park in Rockwall. It is the last building in the park to be sold. It was purchased by TK Development, which also owns the second building within the four-building, approximately 23,600-square-foot park. Construction of the park was completed in November 2008; it is located just west of the new Presbyterian Hospital.
VAN NUYS, CALIF. — The Housing Authority for the city of Los Angeles has acquired a two-story, 22,156-square-foot office building for $3.5 million. Located at 6946 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys, the property is currently occupied by the buyer. Cathy Scullin of NAI Capital Commercial represented the buyer; George Stavaris and Darren Cline of Grubb & Ellis’ North Los Angeles office represented the seller, Van Nuys-based KEPT LLC, in the transaction.
ATLANTA — Chicago-based Seyfarth Shaw will lease 84,000 square feet and The Boston Consulting Group will lease 37,000 square feet in the 12th & Midtown office tower in Midtown Atlanta. The two leases represent the first announced tenants in the 725,000-square-foot building, which is being constructed to LEED standards at 1075 Peachtree St. The structure is part of a $600 million, 1.4 million-square-foot development. Delivery of the property is expected in early 2010. Terms of the leases were not announced.
DUBLIN, OHIO — Alterra Real Estate Advisors has brokered the sale of Two Metro Place, a Class A office building located within the Metro Center complex in Dublin. An East Coast investment company has purchased the 118,000-square-foot building from 565 Metro LLC for $16 million. Tenants at the building, which is 98 percent occupied, include Influent, Lowes, The Ohio State University, Siemens and Sophos. Alterra will continue to handle the leasing and management of the property on behalf of the new owners.