47 posts tagged “office”

The "AAA of Northern California" has left their iconic San Francisco properties on Van Ness and moved into new headquarters in Walnut Creek. In 2008, the California State Automotive Association sold their 28-floor office tower and complex in San Francisco's Civic Center area to a joint venture led by the Patson Group and including Vornado Realty Trust and, through Buchanan Street Partners, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for $120 million. The 1970s-era office tower contains the only high-rise, multitenant office property in the submarket, as well as 3 class B office spaces, two seven-story buildings, an eight-story building and parking. The current average full-service asking rates in the Van Ness/Civic Center submarket for class A and B product are $29.27 and $25.00 per square foot per year, respectively, according to a third quarter report from Cornish & Carey Commercial/Oncor International.

CSAA's new property is considerably smaller, but no steal. According to GlobeSt.com, "the six-story, 250,000-square-foot structure was built to suit the company by Equity Office and its local development partner, Harvest Properties, for approximately $125 million or $500 per square foot."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

The Wall Street Journal published an article examining the current climate for office building owners who are looking to keep the tenants they have in the face of one of the worst commercial real estate markets in decades. It's noted that while businesses are struggling they're also delaying property decisions and, in some cases, forced to move to cheaper spaces. As leases expire, property owners have to invest -- through rent reductions, building improvements and incentives -- to retain those tenants. "While competitive market occupancies continue to erode, we may be seeing the first signs of what will, with no doubt, be a slow market recovery," said Bill Hankowsky, Liberty Property Trust's chief executive.

Boston Properties Inc. reported this week that new tenants are paying 17% less in gross rents than prior tenants in the same space. SL Green Realty Corp. saw their revenue decline 7% in the third quarter to $249.6 million after adding nearly an extra month of free rent as a tenant incentive; the company said the current average starting rents in Manhattan were $47.31 per square foot, down from $66.78 during the same period last year.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T) signed a long-term lease for 140,380 square feet of office space in the West Tower of Riverfront Plaza in Richmond, VA this month in a plan to relocate and consolidate their Richmond-based regional headquarters office, their brokerage operation Scott & Stringfellow, and BB&T Capital Markets from nearby Richmond locations. The 21-story, two-building complex is located at 901 and 951 East Byrd Street on the banks of the James River and will be the home of  more than 500 employees beginning in 2010 according to CoStar.

A significant portion of the space leased to BB&T is the space previously held by Wachovia Securities, which relocated from Richmond to St. Louis after its merger with A.G. Edwards. Riverfront Plaza was acquired in 2006 by the Hines U.S. Core Office Fund LP and designed by HKS, Inc. Architects. Last year the building was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), earning the ENERGY STAR® label in recognition of outstanding energy conservation, making it the first privately held commercial office building in downtown Richmond to receive this recognition. Stevens Gentil and Chuck Ellsworth of Grubb & Ellis|Harrison & Bates represented BB&T in lease negotiations, while Michael Campbell of Dominion Realty Partners represented Hines.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

In a move that has GlobeSt.com asking "Did NYC Miss the Boat With DTCC?", the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) has signed a new lease and is moving the majority of its Manhattan staff to Jersey City. DTCC will relocate about 1,600 staff members to Newport Office Center in Jersey City, on the Hudson River waterfront across from Manhattan, when its current lease expires at the end of 2012 with employees expected to move in early 2013. While the bulk of DTCC’s Northeast-based staff will make the move to the new 415,000-square-foot space at 570 Washington Blvd in New Jersey, DTCC will retain a headquarters location and approximately 700 employees in lower Manhattan. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"After lengthy deliberations with officials in New York and New Jersey, we have concluded that a move to New Jersey is the right decision," said Donald F. Donahue, DTCC Chairman and CEO. DTCC used a broad set of criteria to make the decision, including the competitive costs for a long-term lease, economic incentives, availability of infrastructure support (telecomm, transportation), accessibility to DTCC headquarters, the ease of commuting for our employees, ability to retain and recruit highly-skilled staff to the location and other quality of life issues for DTCC employees. "We are continuing to negotiate for space in lower Manhattan to accommodate our corporate headquarters and a number of new growth businesses," said Donahue.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse is looking to unload its space at Tide Point, a former Procter & Gamble soap factory in Baltimore turned 400,000 square-foot office campus. Struever Bros. originally bought the entire 5 building project in 1998 for $6 million and converted the 15-acre property into a high-end business park, but is now seeking to sell Tide Point to raise money and pay contractors according to the Baltimore Business Journal. The company has already vacated roughly 7,300 square feet in the Joy building and is hoping to sell another 22,000 square feet this month.

Colliers Pinkard has been retained to market the property and is reportedly offering up the space for lease at a term of three to five years. While the pricepoint has been listed as negotiable, comparable space in Tide Point's adjacent Cascade building is currently available at $20.50 per square foot.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

3150 Fairview Park Drive, a 252,613 square foot trophy office building in Fairfax County, Virginia was sold by ING Clarion Partners to Franklin Street Properties Corp. for $73 million according to CPE. ING's managing Director Robert Greer said in a statement that the sale of the class-A office building supports ING Office Fund's strategy of selectively rebalancing its portfolio, while also gaining additional liquidity for future investment opportunities.

The eight-story building was constructed in 2001 and is currently 100% leased through January 2017 on an absolute triple net basis, including space that serves as headquarters for non-profit Noblis. "The quality of Noblis' headquarters building allows the Fund to exit at attractive pricing in today's marketplace," said Greer in a GlobeSt article. ING Clarion originally acquired the property in 2004 for $92.8 million from Hines Corporate Properties, LLC who originally developed the building  at a cost of around $60.3 million.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

The Rilea Group, led by Alan Ojeda, has secured one of the largest Miami office space deals of the year in a new lease with Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, a Miami-based law firm. The new property at 1450 Brickell is a  576,379-square-foot Class A office building scheduled for completion by first quarter of next year; Bilzin Sumberg is taking 80,000 square feet of space marketed at the full-service, gross rate of between $40 and $50 a square foot according to the South Florida Business Journal.

The law firm will be relocating from Wachovia Financial Center toward the end of 2010 with its lease at 1450 Brickell beginning January 2011. 1450 Brickell is precertified gold according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, and has floor plates ranging from 24,000 square feet to 25,600 square feet. Bilzin Sumberg will be on the 21st through 24th floors.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Eola Capital, an Orlando, Florida-based real estate investment company, has acquired the general partnership interests of over 7.6 million square feet of commercial office space in a portfolio of properties valued at $1.1 billion from America's Capital Partners. The acquisition nearly doubles Eola's company in size and extends their presence to include Philadelphia and the DC metro area reports the Orlando Business Journal.

"In what are clearly challenging times for our industry, this transaction stands out as an example of just one of the opportunities that exists to create value for our partners, tenants and employees," said Jim Heistand, founder and Chairman of Eola Capital. Rudy Touzet, the co-founder of America's Capital Partners, will acquire an interest in Eola Capital and join the firm as Chief Executive Officer.

For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.