Lease Up: Nomura Completes 900,000-SF Lease; Chevron Buys One, Leases Another

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Nomura Completes 900,000-SF Lease at Worldwide Plaza in Midtown

By: Justin Sumner
In a move intended to support its plans to become one of the top-tier investment banks in the U.S., Nomura Holding America Inc. signed one of the largest new office leases in Midtown since 2004, agreeing to occupy more than 900,000 square feet at Worldwide Plaza.

Under the 20-year agreement, Nomura will occupy 20 floors in the 47-story, 1.8 million-square-foot, class A office tower at 825 Eighth Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets in New York City's Times Square submarket.

The financial services giant will relocate its American headquarters from 2 World Financial Center in 2013 It is taking 10 vacant floors and 10 floors currently occupied by Universal Music Group, which is moving at the end of this year. Nomura will bring the building to 95% occupancy.

John Cefaly, Rob Lowe, Clark Finney and Anthony Pasqual of Cushman & Wakefield, along with Ed Donery and David Heller of C&W's Transactions Group, represented Nomura. Peter Duncan, George Comfort and Matt Coudert represented building ownership in-house.

Duncan, the president and CEO of George Comfort & Sons, heads the investment group, WWP Office LLC, that owns the property in partnership with RCG Longview, headed by Jay Anderson, and DRA Advisors, headed by David Luski.

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Chevron Buys Houston Office Tower; Leases Next Door

By: Laurie Forbes
Chevron Corp. purchased Four Allen Center, the 1.23 million-square-foot office tower it fully occupies at 1400 Smith St. in downtown Houston, from Brookfield Office Properties for $340 million, or approximately $277 per square foot.

The investment entity Towanda Development I Ltd. sold the building to Brookfield for $120 million in September 2006.

"This sale is reflective of our ongoing strategy of recycling capital from mature assets into more accretive opportunities," said Ric Clark, CEO of Brookfield.

Built in 1983, Four Allen Center is a 50-story structure on 1.14 acres in the central business district. Chevron has leased the property for nearly five years.

The U.S. oil and gas company also inked a 311,000-square-foot office renewal next door at Continental Center I, a 1.1 million-square-foot, 51-story skyscraper at 1600 Smith St. Chevron's previous lease for 475,000 square feet expires in May of next year. The new deal will leave 164,000 square feet available next spring.

Brookfield has owned 1600 Smith St. for five years. It is 95.4% leased. Continental Airlines also anchors the property with 414,578 square feet. The average asking rent per year is approximately $23 per square foot, according to CoStar Group information.

Paul Frazier and Margaret Gosda negotiated the lease in-house for Brookfield. Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield represented Chevron.

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Wells Fargo Leases 118,000 SF in Jacksonville

By: Jeanine Kaminski
Wells Fargo Bank signed a 13-year lease for 118,000 square feet at the former Modis Building, now Wells Fargo Center, at 1 Independent Drive in Jacksonville, FL.

Wells Fargo Center is a 37-story, 647,251 office building constructed in 1975 in Jacksonville's Downtown Northbank submarket. The corporation will relocate from the Enterprise Center at 225 Water St.

The company's North Florida regional operations and 375 employees will move into the office tower by the end of this year.

Michael Loftin, Parkway Realty Services' managing director of leasing, along with Henry Pratt, executive vice president of Parkway, represented the building's owner. Mike Harrell and Lou Nutter with CB Richard Ellis represented Wells Fargo Bank.

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Busting Out of HQs, Maidenform Expands

Maidenform Inc. extended its U.S. headquarters lease and expanded by 15,000 square feet to a total of 81,276 square feet at 485 Route 1 South, Building F within Woodbridge Corporate Plaza in Iselin, NJ.

The intimate apparel manufacturer and marketer extended its presence of 66,276 square feet, including the building's top two floors, and added 15,000 square feet on the second floor for the total of 81,276 square feet. Maidenform now occupies 70% of the four-story, 116,030-square-foot property.

David Simson, vice chairman of Newmark Knight Frank's New Jersey operations, teamed with Jamie Drummond, Michael Staskiewicz and Michael Marchese, all of the real estate services firm's Rutherford, NJ office to represent the building's ownership, KBS Realty Advisors Inc. Maidenform was represented by Ray Sohmer of Jones Lang LaSalle.

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inVentiv Health Relocating

inVentiv Health, a company offering clinical, consulting and commercial services to the health care industry, signed a 58,000-square-foot office relocation lease at One Van de Graaff Drive (Landmark One) in Burlington, MA.

Vice president Evan Gallagher of NAI Hunneman represented inVentiv Health; while Dan Campbell RM Bradley represented building owner Mass Mutual.

"NAI Hunneman was thrilled to be an integral part of inVentiv's corporate relocation to the Boston market; we worked very closely with inVentiv to identify a first-class building for the relocation of its corporate headquarters that had a professional image, ample amenities and strong ownership. We were able to find that in One Van De Graaff," Mr. Gallagher said.

One Van de Graaff, featuring a six-story granite and glass atrium with dramatic sunlight exposure is directly adjacent to Rt. 128. Building amenities include a full service café, fitness center and locker room, ATM, and newly renovated common areas.

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Wedbush Consolidates on Park Ave.

Wedbush Securities, one of the largest private securities firms and investment banks in the nation, has consolidated multiple Manhattan, NY, office locations and relocated to 90 Park Ave. in New York.

The transaction represented an opportunity for Wedbush to consolidate offices into an 11,637-square-foot, Class A space two blocks from Grand Central Terminal between 39th and 40th streets.

UGL Services' Joel Weinberg, along with Dirk Hrobsky of the company's New York office, represented Wedbush. Brad Needleman and Geoffrey Robson of CB Richard Ellis represented the sub-landlord. Vornado Realty Trust is the owner of the 879,000-square-foot property.

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Draexlmaier Expanding in Automotive Production Plant in SC

Draexlmaier Automotive of America LLC, an affiliate of the Dräxlmaier Group, will expand its current facility in Spartanburg County, SC. The $22.35 million investment is expected to generate 150 new jobs over the next five years.

Dräxlmaier will upgrade its facility at 1751 E. Main St. in Duncan, to accommodate increased production. The investment includes the addition of a $10 million, 64,500-square-foot production building to the existing facility, as well as upgrades to the plant infrastructure and equipment.

The new production hall will expand the plant's capacity by more than a third and house state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge technology for the assembly of vehicle interiors and components, including instrument panels, center consoles and door panels.

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Bagcraft Pops into Norcross

Bagcraft Papercon leased a 225,000-square-foot production facility at 6448 Best Friend Road in Norcross, GA. The facility on 11.75 acres includes 13,000 square feet of office space and has a 30-foot clearance. Bagcraft and the landlord, Selig Enterprises, will retrofit the building to meet Bagcraft Papercon's manufacturing specifications.

Craig Viergever, SIOR and Kurt Unger, CCIM, SIOR of Lee & Associates, represented Bagcraft. Lee & Associates helped negotiate available incentives from Gwinnett County, due to the building's location in a newly designated Opportunity Zone.

Bagcraft Papercon will employ approximately 196 employees working three separate shifts. The facility will be the firm's premier manufacturing facility in the Southeast U.S.

Bagcraft Papercon is a leading provider of paper-based food service packaging products in North America. This facility will specialize in manufacturing of printed waxed paper food wrappers and is planned to be operational by mid-2011.

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FINRA Leases 36,000 SF in Rockville

By: Jennifer Muirhead
FINRA, an independent securities firm regulator, signed an 11-year lease for 36,149 square feet in the office building at 15200 Omega Drive, Decoverly Two in Rockville, MD.

Constructed in 1987, the three-story building totals 77,837 square feet in the Decoverly Office Park.

FINRA's lease includes the entire third floor and part of the second floor. The remainder of the building is currently vacant.

Ben Powell and Dennis Owen of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, LNR Partners Inc. Eric West and Richard Siegel represented FINRA.

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Baseball Factory Takes New HQs Space

Baseball Factory leased 22,000 square feet of office space at 9212 Berger Road, a single-story 60,000 square foot commercial office building in Columbia, MD.

The company, which presently employees 45 full-time and 1,000 part-time workers, expects to move into its new headquarters in third quarter 2011.

Brad Berzins of NAI KLNB represented Baseball Factory and Andy Andrews of Cassidy Turley represented the landlord, Platt Development Group.

"The Baseball Factory has been rapidly growing, expanding its services, and steadily adding new employees. They needed a new headquarters to accommodate this growth," Berzins said. "It was important to the company and its executive team to remain in Howard County and Columbia."

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Additional Expansions & Relocations

Achem Industry America Inc.

purchased a 128,000-square-foot industrial building at 13226 Alondra Blvd. in Cerritos, CA, for $10.56 million or $82.50 per square foot. This was an owner-user sale and the property was vacant at the time of sale. Ted Carpenter and Mike Carpenter of Carpenter & Associates represented the seller; while the buyer was represented by Adam Deierling and Christopher Sheehan of Colliers International. (By: Emily Chiu)

California Community Foundation,

a charitable funds manager known as CCF, executed a 10-year lease for 26,336 square feet of office space at 221 and 281 S. Figueroa St. in Los Angeles, CA. The lease included space in two of the buildings. At 221 S. Figueroa, two suites were leased with a total of 19,586 square feet and at 281 S. Figueroa, a conference room of 6,720 square feet was leased. Chris Runyen, senior managing director at Charles Dunn Co. represented both the owner, U.S. Bank, and the tenant. (By: David Munz)

Cargill Inc.,

the multinational corporation with various commodities, energy, manufacturing and financial services business arms, leased 206,565 square feet in the industrial facility at 1996 Behnke Ave. in southwest Memphis, TN. Cargill already leases more than 600,000 square feet in the depot. This is a short term lease, due to expire in the second quarter of 2012. The 207,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1950. Linda Reid represented Memphis Depot Business Park, and Greg Bell of Cargill Cotton was the tenant representative. (By: Hugo Gilbert)

Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP,

a certified public accounting firm, signed a lease for 49,181 square feet at 1410 Spring Hill Road, part of Tysons Dulles Plaza in McLean, VA. The expansion is reportedly the result of the merger between Goodman & Co. LLP and Dixon Hughes. The tenant is expected to occupy the office space in November. Tysons Dulles Plaza, acquired by KBS REIT in 2008, is a 487,775-square-foot, Class A office complex comprised of three buildings. Ed Clark and Steve Hoffeditz of CB Richard Ellis represented KBS, while CBRE's Dominic Orfitelli represented Dixon Hughes Goodman. (By: Jared Cobert)

Emerson Process Management,

a manufacturing and technology company, purchased the two office properties at 1100 Louis Henna Blvd. in Austin, TX, from US Bank. Although the sale price was undisclosed, the two buildings are appraised at $23.07 million. Known as Frontera Vista Business Park, the three-year-old structures total 267,874 square feet and are in the Round Rock submarket. (By: Samantha Mrozinski)

F&P America

signed a five-year lease at 1520-1530 Experiment Farm Road in Troy, OH. The tire manufacturer currently occupies 83,200 square feet and will expand to fill the entire 160,000-square-foot building next month. The Miami County Class B warehouse building was developed by the Miller Valentine Group and delivered in 1997. Chuck McCosh represented the landlord, Miller Valentine, in-house. (By: George A. Cerny)

Hyundai Construction Equipment,

which makes excavators, forestry machines and wheel loaders, will move its headquarters from Chicago to 6100 Atlantic Blvd. in Norcross, GA. The company acquired the 217,794-square-foot industrial property for $7 million, or about $32 per square foot. The relocation will bring 100 new jobs to the area. The state has offered the company $2 million in incentives to leave Chicago. Elizabeth McSweeney and Bill Buist of Colliers International represented the seller. Adam Richards of Resource Real Estate Partners represented Hyundai Heavy Industries. (By: Brandon Young)

JP Original Corp.,

an apparel company, acquired the industrial facility at 19161 E. Walnut Drive N in City of Industry, CA, from Unilever Supply Chain Inc. for $9.05 million, or about $69 per square foot. The 131,420-square-foot warehouse at 19161 E. Walnut was constructed in 1982 and has been vacant since May. In 2003, it purchased the adjacent building, 19101 E. Walnut Drive N, which is 149,760 square feet, and will continue to occupy this property. Erik Larson, Christopher Tolles and Robin Dobson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, while Adam Dzierzynski and Dennis Keane of Lee & Associates represented the buyer.

Kenco Logistics,

a family owned and privately held third-party logistics providers, signed a lease for more than half of the building at 100 W. Manor Way in Robbinsville, NJ. The tenant will occupy more than 500,000 square feet in the Northeast Business Park. It is the sole tenant in the building at this time. The team of Mindy Lissner, William Waxman, and Stacey Weinberg of CB Richard Ellis represented Kenco in the transaction. Charles Fern of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the owner of the building, Principal Financial Group, Inc.

OHL,

a third-party logistics provider, leased the remaining 405,492 square feet in an 812,000-square-foot industrial building at 281 Airtech Parkway in Plainfield, doubling its size from the approximately 406,500 square feet it already occupies in the ProLogis-owned distribution building. The Jones Lang LaSalle Indianapolis Industrial team of Steve Schwegman, Jake Sturman, and Brian Seitz represented the tenant, along with Randy Wolcott and Doug McDowell of ProVenture. Jess Andrews, also with ProVenture, led the incentives negotiations. JLL also represented ProLogis in the lease.

Palmer Logistics

signed a long-term lease to occupy 140,000 square feet at the Portwall Distribution Center I in Houston, TX. The company specializes in third-party warehousing, packaging and distribution services. Bob Berry of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Palmer Logistics, while Walter H. Menuet of Vantex Commercial Property Group LLC represented the landlord, Meritex Portwall LLC. (By: Shontae Dennis-Scott)

Phoenix Packaging Operations LLC

signed a five-year lease for 104,352 square feet of warehouse space at 464 E. Chilton Dr. in Phoenix, AZ. Built in 2000, the building is zoned I-1 light industrial/PAD and includes approximately 13,920 square feet of office space. Phoenix Packaging Operations LLC is a subsidiary of Grupo Phoenix, a privately owned company based in Latin America. The company is one of the leading manufacturers in the region for injection-mold plastics manufacturing, thermoformed products, foil lidding and extruded barrier packaging. Mike Parker and Evan Koplan of Colliers International represented the landlord, Primrose Properties, Ltd. (By: Kenneth Arnold)

Tect Aerospace,

which manufactures structural and mechanical components for aircraft, signed a lease for the entire 75th Street Center industrial facility at 1515 75th St. in Everett, WA. The single-story, 149,412-square-foot warehouse building was constructed in 1981 and until recently was home to PODS Enterprises. This will be a phased occupation with Tect Aerospace moving into 79,535 square feet this quarter and will continue to take occupancy of additional space as existing leases expire. Richard Peterson and Chris Peterson of NAI Puget Sound Properties Inc. handled the lease negotiations for the landlord, 75th Street Center LLC. (By: Brian White)

Ticketnetwork,

an online ticket-exchange company, purchased the industrial building at 83 Gerber Road in South Windsor, CT, from Gerber Scientific Inc. for $6.5 million, or about $29 per square foot. The 225,000-square-foot building was built in 1965 with a complete renovation in 1999. After failing in its bid to successfully place a concert venue or temporary modular buildings at its Vernon, CT, facility, Ticketnetwork decided to acquire the Gerber facility in South Windsor. (By: Marcus L. Smith)

Trada,

a paid search and SEO internet marketing company, expanded into 17,662 square feet of office space at 1023 Walnut St. in Boulder, CO. Lynda Gibbons and Annie Lund of Gibbons White Inc represented the landlord, Karlin Real Estate. The tenant did not have broker representation. (By: Christine Dorr)

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