October 2014 – Briefs/Leasing & Management

Servcorp, Cushman & Wakefield Sign in One WTC

One World Trade Center is 58 percent leased, thanks to two new deals. The Durst Organization signed Australia’s Servcorp to occupy the iconic tower’s entire 85^th floor. The global provider of equipped executive offices and virtual office space will take 34,775 square feet that is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2015. Cushman & Wakefield has also announced that it is taking 10,000 square feet of space on the 45^th floor to relocate its Lower Manhattan operations.

The tower’s official opening will occur toward the end of this year, when Condé Nast begins to move into its new 1.2 million-square-foot digs. Additional leases in the 3 million-square-foot behemoth include the GSA taking 272,955 square feet on floors 50 through 55; China Center New York taking 202,732 square feet on floors 65 through 69; ad agency KiDS Creative taking 34,755 square feet on the 87^th floor; and Legends Hospitality—which is developing the One World Observatory on floors 100-102—housing its operations team in pre-built space on the 45^th floor.

Duke Fills Metro Nashville Distribution Center with Big Lease

Duke Realty Corp. has signed B&G Foods, a manufacturer and distributor of branded food and household products, to a new lease for 445,942 square feet in its Park 840 Logistics Center in Lebanon, Tenn. The lease brings the 653,360-square-foot bulk warehouse known as Building 653 at 14840 Central Pike to 100 percent occupancy. Completed in 2006, Building 653 is a cross-docked facility that features 32-foot clear height; 88 dock doors with levelers, bumpers and seals; and four 12-by-14-foot drive-in doors. The remainder of the building is leased to the Nutro Co., a pet-food maker and subsidiary of Mars Inc.

NGKF Awarded 65 MSF Ascension Services Contract

NGKF’s Global Healthcare Services team has been awarded a contract to provide real estate services for Ascension, the largest not-for-profit health system in the U.S. The company’s portfolio includes 131 hospitals throughout 23 states and Washington, D.C. That’s about 65 million square feet, and easily the largest healthcare services assignment made this year. The agreement covers tenant advisory, landlord advisory, lease administration, portfolio optimization and real estate cost reduction strategies.

Colliers Completes 70 KSF Lease in Arizona

The Greater Phoenix office of Colliers International has completed a long-term lease for 70,000 square feet of built-to-suit space in Chandler, Ariz. Wireless infrastructure company Crown Castle International will lease the building, located on the southeast corner of German Road and Stearman Drive in Chandler, from developer LGE Design Build of Phoenix. The build-to-suit is expected to be completed by July 1, 2015, and there is additional land for expansion opportunities.

Amazon Takes 700 KSF with Clarion in California

Amazon.com Inc. will occupy a 700,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Redlands, Calif., taking the space from the building owner, Clarion Partners. JLL represented the landlord in the transaction. Amazon’s other California fulfillment centers are located in San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Patterson and Tracy. In a little under two years, Amazon has grown its California operations to nearly 5 million square feet and created thousands of jobs; it is currently actively hiring for 2,500 full-time positions. Amazon employees at the Redlands fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship large items like flat-screen televisions and kayaks.

Kennedy Wilson Lands 262 KSF Management Gig in San Francisco

East West Bank has awarded Kennedy Wilson with the property management contract for 555 Montgomery St. The 18-story, 261,389-square-foot office tower is located in San Francisco’s financial district. In addition to East West Bank, the tower is home to a number of other well-known financial services, legal services and market research firms, including The Guardian Life Insurance Co., US Capital Partners L.L.C., DHC USA Inc. and the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office, as well as The New York Times. The property was built in 1984 and has office spaces ranging from 1,200 to 14,000 square feet.

Stiles Lands 825 KSF in Assignments in Florida

Stiles Property Management has landed two big portfolio assignments in the Sunshine State. Federal Realty Investment Trust selected Stiles to manage three large-scale retail properties comprising 677,769 square feet. In a second contract, a group of Latin American investors tapped Stiles to manage a portfolio of four retail properties and one office property totaling 147,707 square feet. Stiles is currently the second-largest commercial property management firm in the Florida region, with more than 13 million square feet of property in its portfolio.

JLL Chosen as Exclusive Service Provider for Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group has chosen JLL to provide multiple real estate services for the group’s 600,000-square-foot corporate office portfolio in Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and Western Canada. Under the terms of the deal, JLL will provide North America’s largest cooperative financial group with integrated facilities management, project development and transaction services for all of the company’s assets outside the province of Quebec. Desjardins Group is the fourth-largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets valued at $223 billion.