The Denver office market remains strong. Vacancy continued to compress in 2019 as rental rates and sale prices forged ahead to the highest levels in history, allowing landlords and sellers to remain in control of the market. Class A office transactions accounted for $1.7 billion in office sales in Denver Metro over the past year, versus $1.2 billion of Class B office sales, with average market cap rates of 6.6 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Interestingly enough, vacancy rates are higher in Class A product at 11.7 percent versus 10.1 percent in Class B. Sale prices and rental rates continued to grow in both classes. However, there was a significant difference in rental rate and sale price numbers as Class B lagged by about 20 percent to 25 percent in both categories. With a potential downturn looming, it begs the question, is Class A or Class B office a better long-term value? Considering rental rates and income are a direct derivative of what investors will pay for office buildings, investors must ask themselves whether rental rates are sustainable. It is apparent that the “chase” for the cool, hip, new Class A office is real, but the question is whether Class …
HOUSTON — Occidental Petroleum Corp. has signed a 91,986-square-foot office lease expansion at Three Greenway Plaza in Houston. The energy giant now occupies more than 972,000 square feet at the 52-acre Greenway Plaza campus, which serves as its U.S. headquarters. Brandon Clarke, Charles Gordon, Steve Hesse and Ryan Roth of CBRE represented Occidental in the lease negotiations. Rima Soroka represented the landlord, Parkway, on an internal basis.
ATLANTA — Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) has opened Exhibit Hall BC, a 100,000-square-foot expansion creating more than 1 million square feet of contiguous exhibition space within Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. The project’s budget was $55 million. The expansion brings Georgia World Congress Center’s total exhibit hall space to more than 1.4 million square feet. GWCCA reports that more than 20 events have already booked a spot in the new exhibit space, with dates stretching into 2030. Georgia World Congress Center is situated within a mile of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Centennial Olympic Park, CNN Studios, State Farm Arena, Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola. Atlanta-based general contractor Holder Construction Co. completed the expansion in 18 months.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — Adler Realty Investments has completed the sale of Cal Twin Towers, an office asset located at 4900 California Ave. in Bakersfield. Steve Blumer, a local investor, acquired the office complex for an undisclosed price. Adler originally purchased the 151,829-square-foot asset in 2005, completing a building renovation and maintaining high occupancy during its 15 years of ownership. Current tenants include Omni Healthcare, Regus, Progressive Insurance and Principal Life. The seller recently updated the building’s energy systems, which included a solar installation with covered carports. Alex Belfour, Jeff Andrew, Scott Salters and Susan Moreno of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the deal.
PITTSBURGH — Fe Equus Development LLC, a Wisconsin-based developer, is underway on BLD 2563, a 20,000-square-foot Class A office building in Pittsburgh. Situated at 2563 Brandt School Road, the property will offer amenities including a full kitchen, billiards and game room and a fitness room with Peloton bikes. Software company SRS Computing is the building’s first signed tenant, with 6,400 square feet on the top floor. Construction is slated for completion by the third quarter of this year. Tim Goetz and Darin Shriver of Cushman & Wakefield are leading the leasing initiative.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Newmark Knight Frank has arranged the $12.2 million sale of 545 Long Wharf Drive, a 245,389-square-foot Class A office building in New Haven. The nine-story building previously served as AT&T’s corporate office and is now partially leased by a number of companies and start-ups. Steven Schultz, Cory Gubner, Tony Georgiev and Alex Haendler represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Vision Real Estate Partners was the buyer.
CLEVELAND AND BRECKSVILLE, OHIO — The Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) plans to develop a new world headquarters building in downtown Cleveland, as well as a research and development (R&D) center in the Cleveland suburb of Brecksville. The company plans to invest $600 million to construct both facilities. The paint manufacturer and retailer’s headquarters building will span 1 million square feet just west of Public Square between Saint Clair and Superior avenues. The R&D center will span 500,000 square feet and will be located off Interstate 77 at Miller and Brecksville roads, 16 miles south of downtown Cleveland. The transition to the new facilities won’t occur until 2023 at the earliest, the company says. Sherwin-Williams previously launched a nationwide search for its new headquarters location before deciding to stay in Ohio, where it has been based since it was founded in 1866. “We currently operate out of a 90-year-old headquarters building that has served us well but is no longer conducive to meeting our future needs,” says John Morikis, the company’s chairman and CEO. “The major planned investment in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio we are announcing today reflects our confidence in the continued strength of the region and its people and …
HOUSTON — JLL has arranged the sale of 2900 Weslayan, a six-story boutique office building located at the corner of Weslayan and West Alabama streets in Houston’s Greenway Plaza submarket. Houston-based Griffin Partners, using its investment vehicle Griffin Partners Office Fund III, purchased the 136,698-square-foot office building from Madison Marquette. Dan Miller and Katherine Miller of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. The office building was nearly 82 percent leased at the time of sale, including to retailers Baggy’s Grill, Apteek Pharmacy and Results Physiotherapy. Wally Reid, Cameron Cureton and John Ream, also with JLL, secured a three-year, floating-rate acquisition loan through Frost Bank on behalf of Griffin Partners. Janie Snider and Lee Moreland of Griffin Partners will manage 2900 Weslayan internally. The new ownership has retained Madison Marquette to lease the property.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Cousins Properties and Hines have unveiled plans for 100 Mill, an 18-story office tower in downtown Tempe. Cousins will have 90 percent ownership and Hines will have 10 percent ownership interest in the project. Located at the southwest corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway, the 287,000-square-foot office building is 44 percent pre-leased, with two long-term lease commitments from a Fortune 100 company and a professional services firm. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. Total development cost is anticipated to be approximately $153 million.
SAN DIEGO — Sea Breeze Properties has broken ground for MERGE 56, a 40-acre mixed-use development located in the Torrey Highlands submarket of San Diego. Adjacent to State Route 56 at Camino Del Sur, MERGE 56 will feature a 450,000-square-foot, Class A office and retail space; a boutique hotel; and 242 residential units, including single-family homes, townhomes and affordable apartments. The land was originally approved in 2004 as a big-box retail center before Sea Breeze Properties acquired the land in 2013 and redesigned it into a pedestrian-centric, mixed-use environment. CBRE’s Chris Pascale, Mike Hoeck and Ellycia Halden will handle leasing for the office space, while Steve Avoyer of Flocke & Avoyer will handle leasing for the retail component.