HOUSTON — JLL has brokered the sale of Ashford 5, a portfolio of three office buildings totaling 570,045 square feet in West Houston. The eight-story buildings are situated on a 12.2-acre site adjacent to I-10 in the Energy Corridor area. Renovated between 2014 and 2016, the portfolio offers amenities such as a fitness center, tenant lounges and separate parking garages for each building. Marty Hogan, Kevin McConn, Rick Goings, John Ream and Clay Anderson of JLL represented the seller, a court-appointed receiver, in the transaction. The team also assisted the buyer, an entity doing business as LFFP Ashford Portfolio, in the assumption and modification of the seller’s in-place loan. At the time of sale, the portfolio had an occupancy rate of 58 percent and a tenant roster with a weighted average remaining lease term (WALT) of 4.7 years.
CHICAGO — A joint venture between Leopardo Cos. and GMA Construction Group has broken ground on 79 W. Monroe, Chicago’s first office-to-multifamily conversion under the city’s LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative. Ware Malcomb is providing architecture and interior design services for the transformation of the 14-story property, which is known as the Rector Building and is located in The Loop. The project team includes developer R2 Cos. and building owner Lagfin. Built in 1905, 79 W. Monroe is the oldest surviving commercial structure designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt. The renovation project includes converting seven floors to create 117 multifamily units with 41 units designated as affordable housing. There will also be an upscale lobby and an indoor-outdoor amenity floor, including a tenant lounge, fitness center, outdoor areas, bike storage, a dog wash station and gaming room. Preservation and building landmark efforts will focus on retaining and repairing the building’s exterior masonry, including brick, stone and terra-cotta elements. To enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs for future tenants, the existing single-pane windows will be replaced with double-pane insulated glass, matching the existing profile as required by the local Historic Review Board.
ST. LOUIS — Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice LLC, a civil litigation defense and trial law firm, has signed a 22,800-square-foot office lease to occupy the entire ninth floor of the Deloitte Building in downtown St. Louis. The firm is relocating from 100 North Broadway. Owner Stanton Road Capital (SRC) is delivering The Outpost, its tenant amenity package, at the Deloitte Building. Scheduled for completion by the end of the year, The Outpost will include a fully modernized fitness center, 100-person conference facility, Wi-Fi-enabled tenant lounge and fresh grab-and-go food-and-beverage options. With the new lease, there has been 72,800 square feet of leasing activity at the Deloitte Building in the last six months. Brandon Wappelhorst, Nick Fiquette and Tom Bajardi of Sansone Group represented SRC in the lease with Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice. Rick Messey and Rollie Fors of CBRE represented the tenant.
LOMBARD, ILL. — Byline Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Group has provided a $9.2 million loan for the conversion of a 103,109-square-foot office building into self-storage space in the Chicago suburb of Lombard. LSC Development is the developer and borrower. The building, located at the intersection of I-355 and North Avenue, will be transformed into 67,853 square feet of climate-controlled self-storage space with 64 secured surface parking spaces for both RVs and regular vehicles across 14,800 square feet. Two loading docks with overhead doors will also be installed. The project is slated for completion in the first half of 2026. Law firm Blank Rome represented Byline Bank, while Duggan Bertsch LLC represented LSC Development.
HOUSTON — Local investment firm Braun Enterprises has purchased 3040 Post Oak, a 426,000-square-foot office building in Houston’s Galleria district. The building is situated adjacent to the Galleria Mall and offers amenities such as a tenant lounge and grab-and-go market. Braun plans to implement a capital improvement program that will include the addition of a modern fitness center, a new coffee bar and comprehensive lobby and exterior upgrades. Stream Realty Partners leases and manages the building. The sales price was not disclosed.
ADDISON, TEXAS — Holt Lunsford Commercial has negotiated a 21,000-square-foot office lease renewal in the northern Dallas metro of Addison. The tenant is Foundation Energy Management LLC, and the space is located within Liberty Plaza II. Chase Stone and Hayden Parker of Holt Lunsford represented the landlord, Massachusetts-based Franklin Street Properties, in the lease negotiations. Mary Stoner Yost of Colliers represented the tenant.
ARLINGTON, VA. — HNTB Corp., an infrastructure solutions firm, has relocated and expanded its office footprint in Arlington, a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. The company will now occupy 48,046 square feet across two full floors at 1812 North Moore, a 35-story office tower spanning 537,000 square feet. HNTB will move from its current space at the nearby Shirlington Tower in spring 2026. The move represents a 13,000-square-foot expansion for HNTB. Savills represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Yorke Allen, Herbert Mansinne and Lee Brinkman of JLL represented the undisclosed landlord.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Foundry Commercial has negotiated a 14,000-square-foot office lease at Savona Mill, an adaptive reuse of a historic textile mill in Charlotte’s FreeMoreWest neighborhood. John Ball and Claiborne Mulhern of Foundry Commercial represented the owners, Portman Holdings and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, in the lease negotiations. Patrick McCoy and Mike Hopper of Newmark represented the tenant, BGW CPA PLLC, a business advisory and accounting firm. Construction is underway on two speculative office suites at Savona Mill totaling 15,000 square feet. Redline designed the suites and Enbloc is overseeing the build-out, which is expected to wrap up this summer. In addition to offices, Savona Mill comprises retail space and amenities including a fitness center, bike storage, conference facilities, an outdoor amphitheater, green spaces, a rooftop deck and a community-centric plaza. Portman Residential also recently delivered Vera at Savona Mill, a 319-unit multifamily development situated adjacent to Savona Mill.
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between New York City-based ZG Capital Partners and Miami-based Rialto Capital Management has completed the renovation of Park 53 in Manhattan. The 20-story office building, which is located at 45 E. 53rd St. in the Plaza District, was originally built in 1991. New York City-based architecture firm MdeAs designed the project, which included an expansion and refresh of the lobby, entryway and elevators. In addition, MdeAs collaborated with Vocon to re-program the ground floor with an 8,600-square-foot restaurant with an accompanying wine cellar and private dining area and to design a new amenity space on the second floor.
NEW YORK CITY — Intuit has signed a 77,000-square-foot office lease expansion at 51 Astor Place in Manhattan’s East Village. The financial technology platform currently occupies the entire third floor at the 400,000-square-foot building. The expansion is for three additional full floors of space, as well as ground-floor retail space, for a total footprint of 115,000 square feet. Paul Glickman, Mitchell Konsker, Benjamin Bass and Cynthia Wasserberger of JLL, along with internal agents Jeffrey Sussman and Matt Pynn, represented the landlord, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, in the lease negotiations. Bart Lammersen, Justin Haber and Kyle Riker, also with JLL, represented Intuit.