Also: C1 Bank's New Bill Gates-Inspired "Officeless" Head Offices; YoungArts Drinks Up Bacardi's Old HQ; and more Headquarters Property News from: Brightstar, Dade Paper, Easton-Bell Sports, Krystal, McDermott Will & Emery, PG&E, Polsinelli Shughart and others
Amazon.com entered into purchase and sale agreements to acquire 11 buildings comprising 1.8 million square feet of its currently leased corporate office space in Seattle, WA, for $1.16 billion. Vulcan Real Estate is the seller.
Amazon expects to close the purchase in the fourth quarter, and has made a non-refundable deposit of $23 million, which will increase to $51 million on Oct. 22 and will be forfeited if it does not close the transaction.
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The Amazon campus is at the center of a newly revitalized neighborhood at the north end of downtown Seattle. The South Lake Union neighborhood - once better known for warehouses and light industrial operations - is now home to Amazon, global health organizations, multifamily residential communities and a thriving retail and restaurant core.
Vulcan plans to reinvest earnings from the sale into continued real estate investments, including the redevelopment of the remaining 30 acres of property it owns in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
Vulcan currently has both residential and commercial projects in development in South Lake Union, including Stack House, a 278-unit apartment complex, and a 375,000 square foot project that it is developing for Amazon. The company continues to invest in South Lake Union as a primary component of its growth strategy.
C1 Bank Goes Officeless
C1 Bank has relocated its headquarters to downtown St. Petersburg, FL. The headquarters will serve as the administrative and executive offices of the bank supporting its 21 branches and dozens of lenders focused on the Tampa Bay community.
"The headquarters is unlike any other in Tampa Bay and perhaps unlike any other bank headquarters in the world. We have no offices, not even for the executives. Instead, we work from interchangeable desks to maximize collaboration, speed of decision making and communication," said Trevor Burgess, C1 Bank's CEO, "Technology permeates the space allowing our team members to work from their desks or from any one of the 13 unique meeting rooms."
"We wanted a headquarters where the space said something about who we are as a bank - modern, collaborative, service oriented, fast and fun. We also wanted a headquarters where our employees could thrive and be excited to come to work each day," said CEO Burgess.
C1 Bank drew inspiration from the headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, JetBlue, Google and Facebook.
The offices at 100 5th St. South occupy the first floor of the Tampa Bay Times building in a space that formerly housed the newspaper's classified advertising division.
Phase I of the project housing up to 89 knowledge workers will be followed by a second phase currently under construction to accommodate C1 Bank's planned acquisition of U.S. Century Bank (which, pending regulatory approval, should close at the end of 2012). Phase II will add space for 30 additional employees bringing the total to 119.
Lisa Wannamacher of Wannamacher Jenson Architects was the lead architect in transforming the space with Rob Bowen from Rob Bowen Design Group leading the interior design effort.
YoungArts Drinks Up Bacardi's Old HQ
National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), a non-profit organization, acquired the iconic landmark Bacardi Tower and Museum building complex in Miami, from Bacardi USA.
In an act of civic and cultural philanthropy, Bacardi has conveyed the property to YoungArts at a significant reduction of its market value.
"The development of this headquarters will benefit young artists across the country and is driven by the dramatic expansion of our programs," stated Paul T. Lehr, Executive Director of YoungArts. "Moreover, by acquiring the Bacardi campus, we are able to honor and preserve an important part of Miami's cultural history and plan to make it a thriving arts and cultural center for our community. We thank the Bacardi organization for its extraordinary act of civic-minded generosity."
YoungArts will convert the buildings into the organization's first national headquarters. YoungArts has named Frank Gehry, Placido Domingo and Bill T. Jones as Artistic Advisors.
As part of this initiative, the organization will produce events year-round in New York City, including performances programmed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, master classes and screenings at The Museum of Modern Art, and performances at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The purchase of the Bacardi campus will allow the organization to begin year-round activities in Miami.
World-renowned architect Frank Gehry has been commissioned to design the master plan for the historic Bacardi campus, preserving the iconic features of the blue-and-white-tiled Tower and stained-glass "Jewel Box" buildings, while creating a multi-disciplinary arts complex that will include a park with state-of-the-art video projection capabilities and arts programming for the benefit of the community.
In recognition of the significance of the role the campus will play in its expanded activities, YoungArts will add a new discipline-architecture and design-to its existing nine disciplines of cinematic arts, dance, jazz, music, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. The inaugural program in architecture and design will be initiated with a mentorship opportunity with Gehry for a select group of gifted and aspiring designers centered on the preservation and transformation of the Bacardi complex.
About the Bacardi Tower and Museum Buildings The colorful Bacardi buildings-a main eight-story tower completed in 1963 and an annex completed in 1975, standing on a plaza on Biscayne Boulevard-are widely admired as outstanding examples of a tropical approach to modernity with a Latin influence. They have become familiar far beyond Miami through their frequent use as a location for films and television programs. These buildings served as the Bacardi USA headquarters until 2009. The current Americas headquarters of Bacardi is in Coral Gables, FL.
Abe's Market
Abe's Market will move its headquarters to Chicago this month, as the natural goods company continues its path of growth and expansion.
Abe's Market is an ecommerce company specializing in natural and organic products will move their headquarters and open in River North. With an eye to be part of a bigger tech community with access to talent to support their growth plans, Abe's Market will use its new Chicago location to expand its online business.
Abe's Market will be in a 3,400 square-foot facility in River North at 430 W Erie. The company will be bringing 15-20 jobs to Chicago in the next few months.
Advantage Flooring
By: Tracey Horstmann
Advantage Flooring Inc., a Maryland-based company, acquired an industrial property at 7240 Standard Drive in Hanover, MD, through an auction sale from Groco for $1.84 million, or about $61 per square foot.
The buyer plans expanding and relocating by the end of the year or the beginning of next year from its current Hyattsville, MD, location.
The property will now be used as the new Advantage headquarters, warehouse, and distribution facility. The building features approximately 3,000 square feet of office and the remainder is warehouse and distribution space. Built in 1979, the building is served by three docks and one drive-in door, with brick and block construction.
Scott Skogmo of Sperry Van Ness/Skogmo
Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer, while Matt Cooper of Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc. represented the seller.
Aptalis Pharma
Aptalis Pharma has expanded and extended its lease with SJP Properties by 20,576 square feet at Somerset Corporate Center I in Bridgewater, NJ.
The transaction marks the second expansion at Somerset Corporate Center for the privately held, global specialty pharmaceutical company. The company, which now leases a total of 52,320 square feet at the property, had signed an expansion in the fall of 2011.
SJP is now accommodating Aptalis with temporary space within the Somerset Corporate Center campus while its new expansion space is built out.
Cushman & Wakefield associate director Benjamin Brenner and executive vice president Curtis Foster represented Aptalis in the transaction. SJP was represented in house by senior vice president of leasing Peter Bronsnick.
Architectural Glass
By: Luis Armendariz
Architectural Glass & Aluminum Group will relocate from Alameda, CA, and expand into 175,370 square feet at 6400 Brisa St. in Livermore CA. The design and construction services company signed a lease to fully occupy the industrial building.
This will be a relocation and expansion for Architectural Glass & Aluminum. Architectural Glass is a current tenant at 1151 Marina Village Parkway, another Legacy Partners Commercial-owned property.
Mark Maguire and Kevin Hatcher of Collier's Oakland office and Michael Lloyd of the Pleasanton office represented Legacy Partners. John Carpenter and Shamm Kelly of Carpenter/Robbins Commercial Real Estate Inc. represented the tenant.
Brightstar
Brightstar Corp, a specialized wireless distributor, leased 48,737 square feet of office space From RCG Management Services at 850 Technology Way in Libertyville, IL.
The transaction marks one of the largest office leases in the suburban Chicago market in 2012 and represents a significant expansion for Brightstar Corp.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's John Clark and Rob Lundin, senior managing directors, and John Norris, director, (all formerly with Grubb & Ellis), represented RCG Management, which acquired the single-story building in January through a REO sale. Mitchell Loveman, principal, and Daniel Katcher, managing director, also with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, represented Brighstar Corp. in the transaction.
Citizen's Disability
By: Jeannie Reamer
Citizens Disability, an advocacy group that helps disabled Americans get social security benefits, signed a 42,905-square-foot sublease at 1075 Main St. in Waltham, MA. The group will relocate its headquarters from Marlboro, MA.
It will move to a four-story, 186,151-square-foot, Class A
office building that was built in 1991.
Stephen James and Dan Collins with NAI Hunneman represented Citizens Disability. Rob Walles with CBRE represented the sublandlord, Bank of America.
Community Clinic
By: Kevin Harrington
Community Clinic Inc., a leading community-based health care nonprofit, signed a lease for 14,500 square feet at 8630 Fenton St. in downtown Silver Spring, MD. The 14-story, 255,600-square-foot office building is known as the Montgomery Center.
The company's move from Rockville will almost triple the amount of space occupied by its previous office headquarters, which was 5,000 square feet. When fully operational, Community Clinic hopes the increased space at Montgomery Center will allow the group to service 2,000 patients each month.
When speaking of the qualifications of the new space, Dr. Bill Flynt, CEO Community Clinic Inc., said: "Foremost was the need for space to which we could move and expand our existing Silver Spring medical-services clinic to achieve a more modern look. We are delighted that the new space meets these requirements."
Mike Norris and Ben Heller of Ezra Co.'s Healthcare Practice Group represented Community Clinic. Bill Rhodes of Grady Management represented the landlord, The Gudelsky Co.
Dade Paper
Dade Paper, a large regional distributor of disposables, janitorial supplies and equipment, is relocating its current central Florida facility and nearly doubling its space. The 150,000-square-foot, build-to-suit project encompasses 25 acres located in Orlando Central Park.
McCraney Property Co. is developing the facility and selected Edwards Construction as the general contractor.
The project is fully permitted and has received a financing commitment from TD Bank.
"This is the first central Florida project greater than 100,000 square feet to be constructed in the last four years," said Steven McCraney, CEO of the company he founded more than two decades ago. "We look forward to getting the project underway."
Peter Corrales, principal of Corrales Group Architects, designed the plans.
Easton-Bell Sports
Easton-Bell Sports Inc., a designer, developer and marketer of sports equipment, selected Peak Construction Corp. as the general contractor to complete an 813,126-square-foot manufacturing and distribution shared service facility in Rantoul, IL.
The center will be home to 300 Easton-Bell employees and will include more than 39,000 square feet of office space spanning two floors and more than 775,000 square feet of automated
warehouse space.
The facility will help facilitate Easton-Bell's continued growth and distribution capabilities with four drive-in doors, 44 dock positions and 107 future dock positions. The 78-acre property also includes a 400-space employee parking lot with additional room for 121 trailer spaces and provisions for 500,000 square feet of pad ready future expansion.
Avison Young represented Easton-Bell Sports in multiple facets of the site selection, facility planning process and in securing the long term lease; Heitman Technologies was responsible for the architecture and facility planning; Numina Group provided process improvement; and Competitive Insights is offering strategic supply-chain consulting.
EN Engineering
By: Queenie Bui
EN Engineering, a natural gas engineering consulting firm, signed a lease for 84,399 square feet at Cantera Meadows West at 28100 Torch Parkway in Warrenville, IL. The company, currently based in Woodridge, will relocate its headquarters at the beginning of next year and will occupy the lower half of the property.
"Cantera Meadows is an ideal corporate headquarters that will accommodate all of our Chicago-area based employees at one location, with additional expansion opportunities for our growing firm. It provides a modern and efficient open work space along with attractive onsite amenities," says Tom Ziegenfuss, President of EN Engineering. "Our new headquarters reflects our company values and commitment to our employees to provide high quality office facilities." EN Engineering is relocating from Woodridge. The firm also has offices in Maryland, Colorado and Kansas.
EN Engineering will occupy the lower portion of the building, officially opening the property. 100,000 rentable square feet of furnished space remains available on the upper floors.
CMJ of Cantera LLC, a partnership between M&J Wilkow Ltd. and CarVal Investors, owns the eight-story office building.
Dru Shoemaker of J.F. McKinney & Associates represented the owners. Mike Fortuna and Brett Ratay of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the tenant.
Krystal
As part of its strategic game plan, The Krystal Co. will relocate its corporate office, called the Restaurant Support Center (RSC), from its current location in Chattanooga, TN, to a new location in north Atlanta in early 2013.
The move will allow the company to deliver support to its 350 restaurants more efficiently and effectively from Atlanta's central location, particularly with its high concentration of restaurants in and around the Atlanta area.
The relocation is part of the ongoing efforts of Krystal's president and CEO Doug Pendergast, along with the entire corporate leadership team, to increase customer satisfaction, grow sales and profits, and improve franchisee success.
The transition for Krystal's 60 RSC employees represents less than 1% of the total employee population. The majority of the RSC employees have the option to apply for new positions in the Atlanta office.
"Chattanooga has been a wonderful home for Krystal, and we appreciate the support of the community," said Pendergast. "Our five-year plan calls for aggressive new store growth and Atlanta provides a more central location with access to the one of the country's largest airports. Our new support center will enable us to provide better support to our existing restaurants and to accelerate new restaurant development across the southeast."
Krystal plans to open at least 150 new restaurants in the next five years.
Krystal will continue to honor Chattanooga as its birthplace as well as its founding family, the Davenports. The company is searching for a site for an official Krystal museum and plans are underway for an 80th anniversary celebration in Chattanooga next year.
McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery became one of the first international law firms to locate its office on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, as it officially opened the doors of its new building at 500 N. Capitol St.
Moving from its prior address downtown to its new home near Union Station, the firm became the primary occupant of the new "McDermott Building" at the corner of North Capitol Street and E Street NW.
The new 229,112-square-foot "McDermott Building" will be home to more than 400 lawyers and staff as well as other business and retail outlets. It strategically places McDermott lawyers within steps of the U.S. Congress, the Supreme Court, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission Annex, the Tax Court, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Thurgood Marshall Judicial Center Complex, the Library of Congress and Union Station.
The new building also represents one of the largest private sector real estate projects completed in Washington this year.
Originally built in 1966, the building has been completely redesigned and redeveloped to meet the current and future needs of McDermott. Building upgrades include state-of-the-art technology, such as new mechanical and electrical systems, elevators, and an entirely new, glass façade. Built to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold standards for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, the space features abundant natural light, Energy Star-rated equipment and appliances, new furniture with recycled components, and locally sourced building materials. The office also offers a top-floor conference center, a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Capitol Hill, an on-site parking garage and prominent exterior signage to reinforce the McDermott brand.
Guiding the complete renovation was Boston Properties executive vice president Raymond Ritchie, in partnership with Clark Enterprises. McDermott Will & Emery LLP was represented by Lois Zambo and Steve London of Studley, a global real estate advisory firm. Boston Properties and Clark Enterprises were represented by Art Santry, Phillip Thomas, Zeke Dodson and Kerri Mulligan-Salih of Cassidy Turley. The Clark Construction Group performed the base building renovation as well as the tenant improvements and Gensler was the architect for both phases of the project.
OwnerIQ
By: Jonathan Gross
OwnerIQ, an advertising company, signed an 11,607-square-foot lease deal at 27-43 Wormwood St. in Boston's Seaport submarket. The firm will relocate from 320 Congress St. to the Tower Point @ A Street building.
The 153,000-square-foot, Class B office building at 27-43 Wormwood is on 1.5 acres and has a recently renovated lobby, fitness center, an on-site café and a daycare center.
Bryan Sparkes, Tom O'Regan and Ben Heller of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the owner, Meritage Properties.
Amy Unangst Braun, Stani Miteva and Barry Dube of Cresa Boston represented OwnerIQ.
PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. as signed a 10-year lease on additional space at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, CA, adjacent to 6121 Bollinger Canyon Road, which the company acquired in March 2012 to build a state-of-the-art gas control center.
The new facility, 6111 Bollinger Canyon Road, will now accommodate 700 staff from gas operations and electric transmission operations in more than 145,000 square feet.
By bringing teams together that have typically been dispersed across the Bay Area, PG&E will increase collaboration and coordination across its gas operations and electric transmission operations.
The new building is five stories, of which PG&E staff will occupy two full floors and a partial third floor, with other third-party corporate tenants occupying the remainder of the space. Approximately 260 electric transmission operations staff from Oakland, Concord and San Francisco and 450 gas staff will occupy the second, third and fourth floors. Those relocating to 6111 Bollinger Canyon Road are scheduled to move mid-2013.
Polsinelli Shughart
Polsinelli Shughart's Chicago office is expanding to a third floor of the Chicago Title and Trust Building, 161 N. Clark Street. Polsinelli gains an additional 18,000 square feet to accommodate the firm's growing Chicago office.
Polsinelli Shughart moved into Tishman Speyer's Chicago Title and Trust Building in 2009, originally occupying 29,000 square feet on the 41st and 42nd floors.
The expansions included: 2009 - Started with 29,000 square foot on 41st and 42nd floors, 2011- Expansion of the 41st floor to 42,000 square feet, and 2012- Expansion to the 46th floor for a total of 60,000 square feet
The Chicago office expansion follows recent office additions for Polsinelli Shughart including Dallas and Los Angeles offices in 2011. Denver, New York, Phoenix, St. Louis and Wilmington have all relocated to new spaces or expanded to keep up with the firm's growth.
Cushman Wakefield brokered the Chicago lease expansion for Polsinelli.
Spectranetics
The Spectranetics Corp. entered into a new building lease for 20,000 square feet at 9945 Federal Drive effective Sept. 30, 2012, expanding its Colorado Springs, CO, headquarters.
Simultaneously Spectranetics entered into an amended lease for its main building at 9965 Federal Drive.
The lease at 9945 Federal adjacent to 9965 headquarters is for 11 years with two separate five-year renewal options. No base rent is due until October 2013. After that, the lease rate is $11.25 per square foot. The lease contains annual lease rate increases of 3.3% to 4.4%throughout its term. It is a triple net lease, which requires the Company to pay operating costs of the building in addition to the lease rate.
The landlord will fund up to $900,000 of tenant improvements.
The 9965 Federal amendment extends the term of the lease through September 2023. Base rent is suspended through February 2013. After that, the lease rate is $12.08 per square foot. The lease contains annual lease rate increases of approximately 3% throughout the rest of the term.
The amendment includes an allowance of $700,000 for improvements to the facility. A portion of the improvements will result in an increase in the rentable square feet and that will cause a proportional increase in the base rent. It also includes a right to make additional improvements for an additional 25,000 square feet, which would also result in a proportional increase in rent.
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