NEW YORK CITY — Alcoholic beverage provider Rémy Cointreau has signed a 29,852-square-foot office lease at 3 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. The lease spans the entire 20th floor for 10 years. The 30-story building, which originally opened in 2001 as the North American headquarters of Reuters, is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation. Ron Lo Russo of Cushman & Wakefield and internal agent Tom Keating represented the landlord, Rudin, in the lease negotiations. Peter Sabesan, Richard Selig, Nicholas Markel and Benjamin Grajzgrund of Cresa represented Rémy Cointreau, which plans to relocate from 1290 Avenue of the Americas this summer.
Talk to any commercial broker across the Raleigh-Durham market and you will hear much of the same feedback. In answer to the basic questions, one hears, “The in-office work week is now three days, primarily Tuesday through Thursday.” This trend, which was slowly becoming more evident over the last 20 years with the growth of the digital economy, was accelerated by the pandemic. And further aided by the wider availability of high-speed internet, the demands of the digital workforce are taking people out of their offices and, in some cases, around the world. Companies that value their digital workers are letting them make business decisions that affect the office building markets around the world. It is fascinating to watch. Recent data published by Kastle Systems (a keycard and security supplier for commercial buildings) shows that based on keycard swipes across the 10 largest cities in the United States, we are witnessing structural change in both the traditional work week and employee work hours, in degrees that are directly impacting the need for office space. As a result, employers are downsizing their leased footprints, opting for less square footage and/or shorter leases. Those companies with large numbers of digital workers are …
ALLEN, TEXAS — Avison Young has brokered the sale of a 115,200-square-foot office building located at 805 S. Central Expressway in Allen, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. Susan Gwin Burks, John Bowles, Bruce Butler and Philip Boren of Avison Young, along with Clint Madison and Rodney Helm of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the seller, Gladstone Commercial, in the transaction. Matt Middendorf of Middendorf Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer, Sol-Ark, which provides solar and other energy storage products. The new ownership plans to take full occupancy of the building, which was originally constructed in 1998.
CAMDEN, N.J. — Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) will invest $50 million in capital improvements to its headquarters campus in the Southern New Jersey community of Camden. The project will both enhance existing workspaces and amenity spaces as well as deliver new ones. As part of the initiative, the company will consolidate its offices in Charlotte and Norwalk, Conn., into the Camden office, yielding a regional workforce of about 1,600 employees. Campbell Soup has been headquartered in Camden since 1869, and this project represents the first renovation of the campus since 2010. Construction is set to begin in March. Employees will begin relocating from the other offices later this year.
LOS ANGELES — Lowe as developer and manager, along with Ware Malcomb as architect/designer and Swinerton as general contractor, has completed construction of a nine-story creative office building located at 2130 Violet St. in Los Angeles’ Arts District. Totaling more than 113,000 square feet, the building includes 109,100 square feet of office space, 3,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space, four levels of parking for 275 vehicles, outdoor spaces including private terraces, and a 3,000-square-foot rooftop deck/lounge. The building offers 27,000-square-foot open floorplates, high ceilings, energy-efficient building systems and HVAC.
IRVING, TEXAS — The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) has opened a 55,050-square-foot academic and office facility in Irving’s Las Colinas district. The space is located within the former Zale Corp. headquarters building. William Quinby of Savills represented USAHS, which is also planning a 20,979-square-foot expansion in Irving, in its site selection and lease negotiations. Classes at the new facility began in early January, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
CHICAGO — Western Specialty Contractors-Chicago Facades Branch will complete a restoration of the curtain wall at Accenture Tower in Chicago. KBS owns the 42-story Class A office building, which totals nearly 1.5 million square feet. The property, completed in 1987 and formerly known as 500 West Madison, features 80,000 square feet of retail space and sits above the Ogilvie Transportation Center. The restoration of the curtain wall, a project expected to continue through 2025, includes the removal and replacement of the original 35-year-old sealants on the entire 588-foot building’s curtain wall and bridge over Canal Street. A curtain wall system on a building’s façade helps prevent leaks and protects against inclement weather. Project costs were not provided.
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR has arranged the sale of an 11,960-square-foot office space at Oracle-Ina Professional Plaza located at 7490 N. Oracle Road in Tucson. MCP Tucson Endo LLC acquired the asset from Oracle Medical Plaza II LLC for $3 million. Richard Kleiner and Thomas Nieman of Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR represented the seller, while Larry Serota and CeCe Conway of Transwestern represented the buyer in the deal.
GLEN BURNIE, MD. — Locally based St. John Properties has acquired Aviation Business Park, a three-building commercial portfolio comprising 120,000 square feet in Glen Burnie, approximately 10 miles south of Baltimore. St. John acquired the properties — located at 6956, 6958 and 6960 Aviation Blvd. — from Miami-based Adler Real Estate Partners for $13.3 million. The buildings were roughly 63 percent leased at the time of sale. St. John plans to invest $1.5 million to reposition one of the properties to flex/R&D space. Graham Savage, Jonathan Carpenter and Dawes Milchling of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction. St. John was self-represented. This marks the second significant acquisition for the company in recent months, following the purchase in November of Triangle Business Park, a 95 percent occupied, four-building portfolio in metro Baltimore comprising 74,000 square feet.
HOUSTON — Northmarq has arranged a loan of an undisclosed amount for the refinancing of a 17,250-square-foot industrial flex property located at 850 E. Little York Road in Houston. According to LoopNet Inc., the property was built in 1975 and features 12-foot clear heights, two dock-high doors and six drive-in doors. Michael Borden of Northmarq arranged the nonrecourse loan, which carried a five-year term, fixed interest rate and a 25-year amortization schedule. The borrower and direct lender were not disclosed.