March – Briefs /Leasing & Management

Cassidy Turley Lands 2.2 MSF D.C. Gig

Property Group Partners has chosen Cassidy Turley to serve as the exclusive leasing services provider for the I-395 Air Rights development in Washington, D.C. The mixed-use project will be erected on a platform above I-395 and will produce more than 2.2 million square feet of space with a focus on office.

The development will span three city blocks in what is the largest contiguous undeveloped site in the city. The project’s offerings will include four 12-story structures, including the 546,700-square-foot tower at 250 Massachusetts Ave.; 200 Massachusetts Ave., featuring 407,000 square feet; the 297,300-square-foot 201 F St.; and 200 F St., a 685,400-square-foot building. The development also calls for a 13-story residential building located at 600 Second St.

Air Rights will seek LEED Platinum certification. The first office building at the site could be online in roughly three years.

Penzance Secures 175 KSF Pre-Lease

Penzance has signed a 175,000-square-foot pre-lease for 3001-3003 Washington Blvd., a new 280,000-square-foot mixed-use project that Penzance is developing in Arlington, Va. CNA, a not-for-profit research and analysis organization, will relocate its headquarters into the property upon its completion in early 2014. The new development is designed to function as two separate but attached office buildings: one 10 stories and 200,000 square feet, the other eight stories and 80,000 square feet.

CBRE Signs Three Tenants in N.J.

CBRE Group Inc. has secured three long-term leases at Two Tower Center Blvd., a 400,000-square-foot Class A office building located in East Brunswick, N.J. PNC Bank signed a 131,363-square-foot renewal and exchanged the 19th floor for the ninth. Law firm SorinRoterCooper signed a long-term lease and expanded from 5,400 to 19,452 square feet. Merrill Lynch also signed a long-term lease for 8,849 square feet of space.

1 Houston Center Renamed After 358 KSF Extension

Multinational chemical company LyondellBasell has entered into an agreement to extend its 358,100-square-foot lease with Crescent Real Estate Holdings L.L.C. at 1 Houston Center. The 1 million-square-foot asset has been renamed the LyondellBasell Tower. The plastics and chemical manufacturer has called the 46-story property home for approximately 25 years.

Noble Energy Signs 497 KSF Office Lease

Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors have signed Noble Energy Inc. for 497,000 square feet at the former Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Houston. The joint venture purchased the asset, which carries the address of 20555 State Hwy. 249, in 2011. The 10-story tower first opened its doors in 1998 as Compaq Computer Corp.’s corporate headquarters.

Marshall Hotels & Resorts Adds Six Management Contracts

Maryland-based hotel management company Marshall Hotels & Resorts Inc. has signed six new contracts. Its total managed portfolio now comprises 62 properties. The six hotels are the 143-room Comfort Inn & Suites Alexandria, the 104-room Comfort Inn Dulles and the 111-room Comfort Inn Falls Church, all in Virginia; the 125-room Comfort Inn & Suites College Park in Maryland; the 148-room Clarion Inn Waco in Texas; and the 77-room Hampton Inn & Suites Marksville in Louisiana.

IRS Renews 532 KSF in Fresno

The Internal Revenue Service has signed a 10-year, 531,976-square-foot lease renewal at 5045 E. Butler Ave. in Fresno, Calif. Marcy Owens Test and William Hill of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s government investor services group represented the owner, Government Properties Income Trust, while the IRS was self-represented.