HOBOKEN, N.J. — Unilever (NYSE: UL) has signed a 111,000-square-foot office lease in Hoboken for its new U.S. headquarters. The British conglomerate will occupy three full floors at 111 River Street, which is part of the three-building, 1.5 million-square-foot Waterfront Corporate Center complex. CBRE represented Unilever in the lease negotiations. New York City-based SJP Properties owns Waterfront Corporate Center, which is also home to tenants such as Lipton, Walmart and Newell Brands.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a 10-year, 26,000-square-foot office lease expansion in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The tenant, e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF), will now occupy 39,000 square feet across three full floors at 16 West 22nd Street, where the cosmetics provider has been a tenant since 2020. Jonathan Schindler of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Barbara Yagoda of GFP Real Estate represented the landlord, Meysar Realty Corp.
ST. LOUIS — CBRE has negotiated 15 leases totaling nearly 105,000 square feet at Peabody Plaza, a 400,000-square-foot office tower in St. Louis. Rick Messey and Whitney Allen of CBRE represented ownership, New York-based Briar Meads Capital. The leases were completed within the last 18 months. The tenants include Goldstein and Price LC, Citizens for Modern Transit, Sandberg Phoenix and Von Gontard PC, Gray Ritter Graham, Hinshaw Culbertson LLC, SWMW, Consolidated Grain and Barge, Nahon, Saharovich & Troptz, Mueller Counts LLP, Fernandez Law, Brian Stokes PC and Law Offices O’Driscoll LLC, Vinciguerra Jewelers, UKraft, Keefe and Griffiths PC and Simon Law Group PC. Occupancy at the building has risen from 70 percent in 2020 to over 85 percent in 2024. Located at 701 Market St., Peabody Plaza features a top-floor conference center, 7,000-square-foot fitness center, onsite restaurant, underground parking, 24-hour security and onsite management.
CHICAGO — Zynga Inc., a global interactive entertainment company known for its social games such as FarmVille and Words With Friends, has signed a 14,000-square-foot office lease at Cumberland Centre in Chicago. The relocation marks an expansion for Zynga, which previously leased 12,448 square feet in a nearby single-story office complex. Cumberland Centre is a three-story office building that has recently undergone significant renovations. The lobby area features modernized lighting, seating areas and pop-culture décor. Amenities under construction include common-area hallway upgrades, a building café and a tenant lounge. These enhancements are slated for completion in 2025. Jason Wurtz and Jack Reardon of NAI Hiffman represented the owner, Integris Ventures. Jim Rose of JLL represented the tenant.
MINNEAPOLIS — Asana Partners has completed The Saxon, a redevelopment project that transformed an existing event center into retail and office space in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. NELSON Worldwide served as the architect. The development team unified the building’s three sections, each built in different periods, into a cohesive retail and lifestyle destination. The redesign integrates retail spaces on the first and third levels with offices on the second. Solidcore is a retail tenant on the ground floor.
SAN DIEGO — BH Properties has purchased Hazard Center, a mixed-use campus in San Diego’s Mission Valley submarket, for an undisclosed price. Adam Edwards, Justin Shepherd, Michael Kathrein and Bailey Bland of Eastdil Secured represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Situated on 14.5 acres, Hazard Center consists of a 15-story, 270,000-square-foot office tower that was completed in 1990 and a more than 135,000-square-foot retail component that was completed in 1989. The office tower is more than 77 percent leased to long-tenured tenants. Current retail tenants include Barnes & Noble, Orangetheory Fitness, BJ’s Brewhouse, Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches and FedEx Office.
BOSTON — Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty has brokered the $6.2 million sale of a 14,000-square-foot office building in the Brookline area of Boston. Todd Glaskin and Gregg Leppo of Coldwell Banker represented the buyer, local developer Concept Properties, in the transaction. The duo also represented the seller, a partnership between Kinross Real Estate and Greenline Realty, which purchased the building for $2.5 million in 2005.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Merritt Properties has acquired a five-building, single-story office park located at 5022 Gate Parkway in Jacksonville for $19.6 million. Karl Johnston and Traci Jenks of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Boston-based Taurus Investment Group, in the transaction. Formerly known as The Meridian at Deerwood, the newly acquired property has been renamed Merritt at Gate Parkway and is being converted to light industrial use. Plans are already underway to enhance the property by installing drive-in docks and further upgrading the facilities to meet modern industrial standards. Situated within St. Johns Town Center, the 200,328-square-foot park is located directly off J. Turner Butler Boulevard in south Duval County. Space is available beginning at 3,500 square feet. Merritt at Gate Parkway’s existing tenants include DB Structured Products and MMI. Since entering the market in 2021, Merritt Properties’ Jacksonville portfolio now exceeds 500,000 square feet.
FENTON, MO. — Midas Construction is rebranding to Midas Building Group (MBG). The firm builds hospitality, multifamily and senior living projects throughout the Midwest with active projects in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. MBG is also settling into a new and larger headquarters on the Maritz Corporate Campus at 1400 S. Highway Drive in Fenton, a suburb of St. Louis. The company previously occupied 5,226 square feet in Clayton. MBG’s new 12,005-square-foot office in Fenton features a 5,076-square-foot warehouse space. Campus amenities include a fitness center, multiple auditoriums and conference facilities, a full-service cafeteria and walking trails. The MBG family of companies includes American Cabinet Factory and Collaborative Carpentry. The firm also maintains a regional office in Indianapolis.
NEW YORK CITY — Christie’s has extended its 400,000-square-foot office lease at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan for another 25 years. The art auctioning and appraisal company has been a tenant at the 100-year-old complex since 1997, and its footprint has comprised salerooms, public galleries, warehouses and office space. Mary Ann Tighe, Ramneek Rikhy, Cara Chayet and Courtney Hughson of CBRE, along with Jen Yashar and Danielle Frank of Fried Frank, represented Christie’s in the lease negotiations. EB Kelly represented the landlord, Tishman Speyer, on an internal basis.