HOUSTON — Hicks Johnson PLLC has signed a 13-year, 21,000-square-foot office lease in downtown Houston. The litigation and arbitration law firm is taking space at 1550 on the Green, a 28-story, 375,000-square-foot building that the owner, international developer Skanska, completed earlier this year. Tyler Garrett and Chrissy Wilson of JLL represented Skanska in the lease negotiations. The deal brings the building to 54 percent occupancy. Hicks Johnson plans to take occupancy in late 2025.
CARY, N.C. — Burns & McDonnell, a global engineering, construction and architecture firm, has expanded its office footprint to 17,000 square feet at Fenton, a 92-acre mixed-use development in the Raleigh suburb of Cary. Matt Winters and Ashley Ingram of JLL represented Burns & McDonnell in the lease transaction, nearly doubling the tenant’s square footage. The office is located at 25 Fenton Main and features an outdoor terrace overlooking the project’s Central Plaza. The owners of Fenton include Hines, Columbia Development and Affinius Capital.
GREENWICH, CONN. — Sterling Investment Partners has signed a 15,000-square-foot office lease in the southern coastal Connecticut city of Greenwich. The private equity firm is taking space at 145 Mason Street, a newly renovated building located in the downtown area. James Ritman, Allan Murphy and Ben Goldstein of Newmark represented the landlord, Win Properties, in the lease negotiations. CBRE represented the tenant.
STRATFORD, CONN. — Family Care Visiting Nurses has renewed its 10,124-square-foot office lease in the southern coastal Connecticut city of Stratford. The home-based health services provider will remain at the 42,000-square-foot building at 999 Oronoque Lane for an unspecified period of time. Bruce Wettenstein of locally based brokerage firm Vidal/Wettenstein represented the landlord in the lease negotiations.
SOUTHFIELD, MICH. — NAI Farbman, the brokerage arm of Farbman Group, has brokered the sale of a 114,397-square-foot office building in Southfield. The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that supports established organizations promoting healthcare, social services and education, purchased the property in 2012 as an investment. Given the current state of the office industry, the foundation opted to gift the building to another nonprofit, Volunteers of America, a Virginia-based organization founded in 1896 that provides affordable housing and other assistance to low-income residents. David Haboian of REDICO and Edward Wujek of CBRE represented H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, while Ron Goldstone of NAI Farbman represented Volunteers of America. Following the gifting of the asset, Volunteers of America executed an analysis on the building to determine if it could be converted into a multi-story thrift store, a common practice for the group, which operates dozens of thrift stores nationwide. But the conversion proved too difficult to execute. The property then traded to the Tamaroff Jeffrey Automotive Group, a local automotive dealer of new and used cars. As a result, Volunteers of America raised money for its charity by trading the asset. The property is situated adjacent …
PHOENIX — RED Development has begun construction on PV, the $2 billion redevelopment of a 100-acre site in Phoenix formerly occupied by Paradise Valley Mall. Phase I of the project will include retail, dining and entertainment space anchored by Whole Foods Market; AVE Paradise Valley, a 400-unit multifamily community; and a 77,000-square-foot co-headquarters for Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Each component of the development will be linked via centrally located parks. A groundbreaking was recently held for the office portion of the development — a three-story building designed by SmithGroup to be occupied solely by Fender. Scheduled for completion in fall 2025, the complex will feature a dedicated model shop for its guitar and amplifier designers, an upscale sound room, café, meeting rooms and flexible workspaces. Openings began on the retail portion of the project last week and will continue through the end of this year. Tenants will include Flower Child, Blanco Cocina + Cantina, The Melt, Trevor’s Liquor, Wren House Brewing Co., Frost Gelato, Sephora, Hammer & Nails, SkinSpirit and European Wax Center. AVE Paradise Valley is currently preleasing with move-ins scheduled to begin in November. The mid-rise community offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units with private patios or …
WALLINGFORD, CONN. — The Town of Wallingford, located in southern Connecticut, has purchased a 45,320-square-foot office building located at 4 Fairfield Blvd. The sales price was $4.1 million. The municipality plans to use 25,565 square feet of the building to house the offices of its board of education. Frank Hird of locally based brokerage firm O,R&L Commercial represented the seller, an entity doing business as CT Wallingford Realty Partners, in the transaction.
PHILADELPHIA — Entrepreneur Justin Meshberg has opened Silk Screen Studios, a 22,774-square-foot creative workspace in Philadelphia. The space is located within the former Process Screen Manufacturing building in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood and houses 57 workstations. Space range in size from 200 to 600 square feet and are equipped with high-speed internet, in-unit climate control options and app-controlled entrances. Members also have access to a bike room, package room and kitchenettes on each floor.
RALEIGH, N.C. — KBS and Kane Realty Corp. have inked two office lease deals at Bank of America Tower, an 18-story, 300,322-square-foot office tower in Raleigh’s North Hills district. The deals include a 28,658-square-foot lease with Brightly Software for a full floor. The new space will also serve as the global headquarters of the tenant’s parent company, Siemens Industry Inc. The other lease is a 3,000-square-foot expansion for Eva Garland Consulting, bringing the tenant’s total footprint to the tower to nearly 15,000 square feet. Located at 4242 Six Forks Road, Bank of America Tower is LEED Gold-certified and features six levels of covered parking and a conference center.
DALLAS — Shorenstein Investment Advisers, a privately owned office and multifamily owner-operator based in San Francisco, has acquired International Plaza II, a 388,000-square-foot office building in North Dallas. The 15-story building was recently redeveloped and now features nearly 50,000 square feet of new amenity space, including a full-floor food hall, a coffee and wine bar, multiple indoor and outdoor tenant lounges, fitness center and conference facilities. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. International Plaza II was 93 percent leased at the time of sale.