— Scott Wetzel, Executive Vice President, JLL — Tenants and debt remain the most important drivers of the Orange County office ecosystem — both having undergone major evolutions in recent history. Maybe unexpectedly, leasing velocity improved year over year, despite the never-ending drumbeat of a pending recession. Conversely, investment markets were much more cautious as debt cost spiked and investors pumped the brakes. Leasing From Bob Iger to Howard Schultz, prominent executives are voicing frustration over the state of the office market…and rightfully so. We watched the pendulum swing from end to end as office tenants went from fully “in office” pre-pandemic, to 100 percent remote for the better part of 2020 and 2021. Today, the national office usage rate still hovers around 50 percent, according to the most recent Kastle Systems report. Orange County reflects this national trend, meaning it’s stuck in the middle between in-office and in-home. Tenants are also on divergent paths as some seek quality, while others prioritize value. New Orange County office developments like Flight (Lincoln Property Company), Boardwalk (AEW) and Spectrum Terrace (the Irvine Company) are fully leased and have achieved premium rental rates, typically 70 percent-plus above average market lease rates. Large contiguous …
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NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — Buchanan Street Partners has sold a two-building, 42,697-square-foot office property to a private Newport Beach real estate firm for $20.4 million. Buchanan purchased the offices in 2020 for $11.5 million. Located at 1400 and 1420 Bristol St. N., the property was 22 percent leased at the time of sale. Buchanan had initially planned to carry out an adaptive reuse initiative at the property until the buyer, a residential developer, showed interest.
Progress Capital Arranges $60.5M Acquisition Loan for Office Building in Herndon, Virginia Leased to Amazon
by John Nelson
HERNDON, VA. — Progress Capital has arranged a $60.5 million acquisition loan for South Lake at Dulles Corner Business Park, a 270,000-square-foot office building in Herndon leased to Amazon. Brad Domenico of Progress Capital arranged the loan through Societe Generale Corp. on behalf of the borrower, Vision Properties. The loan features five years of interest-only payments. The seller was not disclosed. Built in 2008 and renovated in 2020 ahead of Amazon’s occupancy, the 10-story office building features a new fitness center, full-service café, modern conference facilities, tenant gaming rooms, outdoor dog park, bicycle room and a 921-space parking garage with EV charging stations. South Lake is located within Dulles Corner Business Park at 13820 Sunrise Valley Drive, which is near Dulles International Airport and the Silver Line Innovation Center Metro station.
Swinerton, Monteith to Construct Mass Timber Office Building for Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina
by John Nelson
WILMINGTON, N.C. — A joint venture between two Southeast-based general contractors, Swinerton and Monteith Construction, will construct a four-story mass timber office building on the Live Oak Bank campus in Wilmington. The 67,000-square-foot property will be the fourth building on the campus and the first to be 100 percent mass timber, a sustainable building method that more developers are opting to utilize. The local office of LS3P designed Building Four to achieve LEED Silver certification. The property is expected to accommodate 200 Live Oak Bank employees upon completion, which Swinerton and Monteith are expecting in early 2024. Swinerton’s sister company Timberlab will provide both the glue-laminated timber and the cross-laminate timber fabrications for the Building Four project.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark has placed a $90 million loan for the refinancing of 1245 Broadway, a 23-story, 200,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan’s NoMad district. German bank Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG provided the loan to the borrower and developer, a partnership between Swedish developer Corem Property Group AB and locally based firm GDS Development LLC. Jordan Roeschlaub, Dustin Stolly and Nick Scribani of Newmark originated the debt. Ownership will use a portion of the proceeds to fund capital improvements.
TAMPA, FLA. — Nestle will relocate its Tampa headquarters to Midtown West, a 152,000-square-foot office building located within the 23-acre Midtown Tampa mixed-use development. The Switzerland-based company plans to open its new sales office later this year. Bill Reeves of Colliers represented Nestle in the lease negotiations. Lauren Coup and Brad Heeter of Highwoods Properties Inc. represented the landlord, Highwoods and Bromley Cos. The square footage of Nestle’s lease was not disclosed. Other tenants at Midtown West include RHI Magnesita, Savills, Randstad, Prudential, Primo Water and Greystar. Bromley and Highwoods have also broken ground on Midtown East, a new office building at Midtown Tampa. Upon completion, Midtown East will total 430,000 square feet across 18 floors, 143,000 square feet of which will be jointly owned by Bromley and Highwoods.
HOUSTON — Community Health Choice Texas, a nonprofit health insurance agency, has signed a 82,706-square-foot office lease at Loop Central, a three-building complex in Houston. The campus, which was renovated in 2020, offers a fitness center, café/deli, tenant lounge, conference facility with kitchen and multiple indoor and outdoor seating areas. Kelli Gault, Jack Scharnberg, Doug Little and David Baker of Transwestern represented the landlord, Griffin Partners, in the lease negotiations. David Boyd of Boyd Commercial, along with Lucian Bukowski of CBRE, represented the tenant.
NEW YORK CITY — Touro University, a nonprofit higher education institute, will expand its academic campus at 3 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. Touro, which originally leased seven full floors and portions of the ground and second floors totaling 243,305 square feet, is now adding 66,438 square feet on the 10th and 11th floors. Locally based investment firm Rudin owns 3 Times Square, which is currently in the midst of a capital improvement program. Richard Bernstein of Cushman & Wakefield, in conjunction with Touro internal agent Jeffrey Rosengarten, represented the university in the lease negotiations. Tom Keating of Rudin, along with Ron Lo Russo and Heather Thomas of Cushman & Wakefield, represented ownership.
HOUSTON —NewForm Real Estate has acquired a historic building located at 917 Franklin St. in downtown Houston that consists of roughly 35,000 square feet of office space and 5,000 square feet of retail space. The six-story building originally opened in 1904 as Commercial National Bank. NewForm is planning a complete overhaul of the building, including upgrades to the façade, lobby, windows, restrooms, utility systems and office suites. The locally based investment firm has hired CBRE to lease the office space and Transwestern to lease the retail space.
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between Tribeca Investment Group, Meadow Partners and PGIM Real Estate is nearing completion of the $350 million redevelopment of 295 Fifth Avenue, a 19-story office building in Midtown Manhattan. The 710,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1920 and is known as The Textile Building for its previous function as a showroom for those products. Designed by Studio MAI, the redevelopment involves a gut renovation of the lobby, the addition of two penthouse-level floors and various upgrades to common areas and mechanical systems. The partnership also recently received $150 million in financing to fund the capital improvements.