NORTH HAVEN, CONN. — Dow Realty Co. has brokered the sale of a 7,870-square-foot office building in North Haven, a northern suburb of New Haven. Located at 202-204 State St., the freestanding property is part of a two-building office condominium complex and sits adjacent to Yale-New Haven’s Health North Haven Medical campus. Jeff Dow of Dow Realty Co. represented the seller, ACES Technology Services, in the transaction. Stephen Press and Tony Poccia of Press | Cuozzo Commercial Services represented the buyer, TRM Investments LLC. The sales price was undisclosed.
ATLANTA — Law firm Lewis Brisbois has signed a 48,000-square-foot office lease at Bank of America Plaza in downtown Atlanta. The company will occupy the 46th and 47th floors beginning in April 2021. Lewis Brubois, which was found in Los Angeles in 1979, is relocating its Atlanta office from 1180 Peachtree St. The landlord of Bank of America Plaza, Shorenstein Properties, recently completed a $10 million renovation to the building’s west wing that delivered modern amenities; workspace; and Marketplace 600, a 17,000-square-foot food hall. Other amenities include the 17,000-square-foot RPM Health Club & Spa, conference facilities and a Starbucks in the main lobby. Jeff Keppen and Nicole Goldsmith of CBRE represented the landlord in the transaction. Jonathan Larsen, Rick Nash, Chandler Larsen and Molly Millard of Avison Young represented the tenant.
GLENDALE, COLO. — NXT Capital has provided a $45.6 million loan to finance the acquisition of Cherry Creek Plaza I & II, a two-building, Class B office park in Glendale. C.J. Kelly of CBRE Atlanta and Jeff Halsey of CBRE Denver placed the loan with NXT Capital for the undisclosed borrower. Located five miles from downtown Denver, the 335,000-square-foot asset features individual lobbies, two fitness centers, a deli, boardroom, classroom and three-story parking structure.
PLANO, TEXAS — Locally based firm Cawley Partners will develop The Parkwood, a 120,000-square-foot office building that will be located just off the Dallas North Tollway in Plano. The property will serve as the new headquarters for Oklahoma-based First United Mortgage Corp, which will occupy approximately half the building. Gensler is designing the project, which will also feature a fully equipped fitness center. Construction of the four-story project is scheduled to begin in September and to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2021.
HOUSTON — Avison Young has negotiated a 14,206-square-foot office lease in Uptown Houston for Goree Architects Inc. The tenant will relocate its headquarters from 4710 Bellaire Blvd. to Sage Plaza, located at 5151 San Felipe St. Anthony Squillante and Collin Roach of Avison Young represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Nina Seyyedin and Jason Presley of CBRE represented the landlord, Granite Barnhart Sage Plaza LP.
Outdoor amenity spaces will be central to enhancing the experiences of office users in a post-COVID-19 world in which requirements for fresh air, distancing and minimal contact of shared surfaces will all be elevated. A trio of real estate professionals addressed the shift in the functionality of common areas in office buildings as part of a webinar titled “Why Experience is the Next Big Office Amenity.” Urban Land Institute (ULI), a research and advocacy organization for the commercial real estate industry, hosted the event on Monday, June 8. Demand for various outdoor amenities in office properties — food courts, water features, hiking trails — was certainly strong before the pandemic began. With the nation’s economy experiencing 128 months of consecutive job growth through February and unemployment levels at historic lows, office-using firms were engaged in fierce battles for talent recruitment and retention. Being able to offer a range of amenities — both indoor and outdoor — that made the average workday more enjoyable was a key part of winning those battles. In the post-pandemic era, the presence of useful outdoor spaces can also deliver the added health benefits of access to fresh air and sunlight, which can improve respiratory function …
The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has led to an economic crisis that is forcing office users across the region to make tough choices to continue their operations. While New York has been the epicenter of the virus, reporting nearly a third of the more than 1 million confirmed cases in the entire country, companies across the region have been forced to furlough employees and reassess their short-term needs for space. The nature of traditional office work was already changing before the virus, as mobile technology has allowed more flexible collaboration from home and co-working offices. Lessons learned from the virus, including the need for social distancing, will carry into whatever market conditions follow. Some companies may desire larger office spaces to allow wider distances between employees, while other may forgo physical space in favor of the mobile model. As a result of the health crisis, office brokers are working to help their landlord and tenant clients find common ground as they tentatively move forward with leasing agreements. Northeast Real Estate Business recently caught up with three veteran brokers to gain their insights into how the virus has impacted their office markets. Below are edited responses from Joshua Levering, senior …
SAN FRANCISCO AND OAKLAND, CALIF. — PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG), parent company of West Coast utilities company Pacific Gas and Electric Co., has entered into a long-term lease at 300 Lakeside, a 824,469-square-foot office building situated along Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starting in 2022, the publicly traded firm will move away from its longtime downtown San Francisco headquarters at 77 Beale St. and 245 Market St. The company plans to sell the buildings, pending approval of the bankruptcy court. PG&E entered into bankruptcy protection in January 2019 that included a $13.5 billion settlement for approximately 70,000 victims of the Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The company’s power lines were reported to have sparked the fires. PG&E plans to request approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to return the net gain realized upon the future sale of its San Francisco headquarters to its customers. The company currently owns and occupies roughly 1 million square feet of office space in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Business Times. PG&E’s lease in Oakland includes a purchase option from landlord TMG Partners taking effect in 2023, the same year that PG&E plans to …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grosvenor Americas has acquired two office buildings spanning 241,000 square feet in Washington, D.C.’s historic Georgetown district. The first property is the Georgetown-Green Building, a four-story, 112,000-square-foot building located at 2001 Wisconsin Ave. The British International School of Washington occupies the building, which was constructed in 1967 and renovated in 1987 and again in 2007. The other property in the transaction is the Harris Building, a five-story, 129,000-square-foot building located at 3300 Whitehaven St. Georgetown University occupies the building, which was built in 1975 and renovated in both 1987 and in 2005. The buildings are located less than one mile from each other and three miles northwest of downtown Washington, D.C. Grosvenor plans to implement smart technology designed to lessen utility loads and minimize the properties’ carbon footprint. The seller(s) and sales price were not disclosed.
PLANTATION, FLA. — Chetu, a provider of custom software solutions, has opened its new office headquarters in Plantation. Chetu will occupy the top floor of a three-story building located at 1248 N. University Drive, nine miles west of downtown Fort Lauderdale. As the anchor tenant, the company will occupy 21,000 of the building’s 63,600 square feet. The office building features a reception area, multiple conference rooms, a community dining area and break lounges.