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Boca’s One Town Center Signs First Tenant

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On the heels of its conversion to a multi-tenant office building, One Town Center has signed its first tenant, Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors (KAREA).

The private equity firm, which is the real estate arm of Los Angeles-based Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, has signed a lease for 12,637 square feet.  Michael Erickson, Senior Vice President with CBRE handled the real estate transaction on behalf of building owner MetLife and CBRE’s Senior Vice President, Jeff Kelly, represented the tenant with the assistance of John Jaspert, Senior Associate.

“We’re excited to make the move to Palm Beach County and to set up offices in a Class A building like One Town Center,” said Al Rabil, managing partner and CEO of Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors. “We thank the Palm Beach County Business Development Board, MetLife and CBRE for their efforts to make this a seamless transition for us.”

Instrumental in the deal were the efforts of the Palm Beach County Business Development Board who have been working to bring hedge-fund and private-equity firms to Palm Beach County.

“There has been a significant amount of interest from hedge fund and private equity companies looking to set up offices in Palm Beach County. Approximately 15 have relocated to the area over the past two years,” said Kelly Smallridge, the BDB’s President and CEO.

“We are especially pleased that One Town Center has helped attract new business to the area,” stated Chuck Davis, regional director of MetLife’s Tampa real estate investment office.  “It is an exceptional building that has the high-profile, Class A office space needed to accommodate all of Kayne Anderson’s needs.”

Earlier this year One Town Center, formerly known as the Tyco Building, reentered the Boca Raton leasing market with the largest block of Class A office space in the Glades/West Boca submarket.  The building has undergone a conversion from a single-use Class A office building to a multi-tenant office building.  In addition to amenity upgrades and renovations to the lobby and common areas, the third floor was renovated as a multi-tenant office floor to showcase the building’s flexibility to meet market demand for tenant spaces of all sizes.  Kayne Anderson is taking over half of the third floor space.

“This marks the first time in 21 years that tenants have the opportunity to lease space at this address since the property was in a single tenant’s hands for most of its history,” said  Michael Erickson, CBRE Senior Vice President. “The renovations have ensured the building maintains its iconic status, drawing interest from prospective tenants both within and outside of the Boca Raton market.”

Greg Martin Closes 53,000 SF Of New Lease Deals At Charter Place

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Avison Young South Florida signed four new leases at Charter Place, a 101,829 square foot office and retail complex located at 3301 N. University Drive in Coral Springs.

The long-term lease transactions at Charter Place include:

  • The Department of Revenue signed a new lease for 25,605 square feet
  • Business Financial Services, Inc., a firm offering alternative financing solutions for small business owners, signed a new lease for 16,776 square feet
  • Sola Salon Studios, a company providing high-quality salon suites for independent salon professionals and business owners, signed a new lease for 6,051 square feet
  • Foundation Therapy, Inc., an establishment providing Applied Behavioral Analysis services for children and families, signed a new lease for 4,350 square feet

The leases, which total 52,782 square feet, increase the occupancy at the building by 52 percent and mark the second time Avison Young South Florida has doubled occupancy at a property within the last 12 months.  Earlier this month, Avison Young announced 43,000 square feet in new lease transactions at Lynn Financial Center, bringing occupancy from 35 to 75 percent.

Greg Martin, Principal at Avison Young, worked with True North Management Group and Delma Properties Inc., the new ownership of Charter Place, to complete the recent transactions. As a result, the occupancy at Charter Place increased with high caliber tenants to nearly 70 percent.

“We are very pleased with the progress that we have made in such a short time,” said Mr. Martin. “The new ownership has been very cooperative in understanding the market and the needs of the Coral Springs tenant base which assisted in our leasing efforts.”

Charter Place is the first phase of the new Downtown Coral Springs, a public/private partnership between a local developer and the City of Coral Springs.

“Charter Place is a high quality asset which attracts and retains gold standard businesses,” said Todd Benson, Vice President, Florida Region, at Delma Properties. “The new additions will complement the existing marquis tenant mix including Merrill Lynch, First Southern Bank, and Wells Fargo.”

Avison Young Acquires West Palm Real Estate Firm

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See?  We told you the “Rumors” section was the best!

Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, confirmed today that it has acquired Florida-based WG Compass Realty Companies and opened a new office in West Palm Beach.

WG Compass, founded by Donald DeWoody, Gary Gottlieb, Jonathan Satter and Mike Walters in 2009, is a diversified real estate services firm headquartered in West Palm Beach. With offices in West Palm Beach, Stuart, and a Vero Beach office servicing the Treasure and Space Coast, WG Compass provides real estate site selection, brokerage, management, development and consulting services to national and regional clients throughout Florida.

The acquisition further expands Avison Young’s market coverage in South Florida and adds a powerhouse team led by DeWoody in retail tenant representation, leasing and sales throughout Florida. Effective immediately, 24 members join Avison Young, five of whom become Principals of Avison Young: Satter, DeWoody, Walters, Gottlieb and Brian Richardson. The new Principals have a combined 100-plus years of experience in the industry.

“We are pleased to welcome the WG Compass team to the Avison Young organization,” comments Rose. “We have always viewed the major Florida markets as critical to our national platform, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have this prominent team on board.”

Rose continues: “Opening an office in West Palm Beach was a key goal for us but we did not want to parachute in and start cold. We wanted to partner with professionals who live, work and play in the region. Mike Walters and Gary Gottlieb founded Walters Gottlieb Partners, Inc. in 1988, developing a strong reputation in the office leasing, sales and management arenas. Don DeWoody and Jonathan Satter opened Compass Realty Advisors in 1998, and developed a legacy of great service in retail tenant representation and property management in Florida. Moreover, the business and personal relationships between the Principals of WG Compass and the Principals of Avison Young in Florida go back 20 years and, thus, the merger of cultures was smooth and easy.”

The newest American office represents Avison Young’s 33rd office outside of Canada, the company’s fourth office in Florida, and an additional step in the firm’s ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Over the past four years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 48 offices in 38 markets and from 300 to more than 1,200 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

“Establishing a Florida retail division and expanding our office and industrial service platform into the Palm Beach County market is of great interest to our clients,” states Earl Webb, Avison Young’s President, U.S. Operations.

“The WG Compass team is well known throughout the Florida market and, in addition to having a team of proven professionals in all asset types, will help Avison Young expand its retail client presence both in Florida and the Southeast U.S. Don DeWoody and Brian Richardson represent some of the leading retail chains in Florida on the tenant side as well as numerous shopping center owners on the landlord side,” Webb says. “The leadership of WG Compass brings to Avison Young broad experience with both owners and occupiers, and the team will be a welcome partner in our growing Florida business.”

Also joining Avison Young from WG Compass are: Josh Wade (associate), Scott Goldsmith (associate), Colin Newton (associate), Laura Acosta (marketing coordinator), Fred Albright (physical plant operator), Rick Broullon (physical plant operator), Pierre Charles (physical plant operator), Caite Corripio (director of operations-property management), Gladys Cruz (porter), Jonathan Elson (associate), Raymond George (physical plant operator), Christine Goodine (administrative coordinator), Corinna Gosman (property administrator), Elizabeth Hauser (property accountant), Robert Leddick (physical plant operator), Carrie Mirabal (marketing coordinator), Jacqueline Ruszenas (marketing coordinator), Lorrie Scott (property administrator), and Craig Stella (physical plant operator).

Avison Young opened its first South Florida offices in October 2012 in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Miami, with 30 members joining from Flagler Real Estate Services, including Pike Rowley who became a Principal and Managing Director of Avison Young’s Florida region. Last month, industry leader Dan Carlo was named Managing Director of the Miami office. Avison Young’s Florida operations are headquartered in Fort Lauderdale.

“In growing the Florida business, Avison Young had several goals in mind. First was the continuation of a great culture of business with people of strong integrity,” notes Rowley. “Second was geographic coverage, including planting flags in the key major markets in Florida. Third was servicing the four asset classes of commercial real estate that Avison Young provides internationally, with those being office, industrial, retail and multi-family. Finding partners throughout the state of Florida with the right fit in these three areas was not easy, but the pieces came together nicely with the acquisition of WG Compass. The culture of service with strong integrity and putting the client first is a priority with WG Compass, as its reputation has been stellar for many years.”

Effective immediately, Avison Young’s new West Palm Beach office is located at 250 South Australian Avenue, Suite 1100, West Palm Beach, Florida.

“Don, Mike, Gary and I are thrilled to join forces with Avison Young. The company provides us with the growth opportunity and the connection to a national service company that we have been looking for in order to best serve our clients,” says Satter, who will be serving as the Managing Director for the office. “In addition, joining Avison Young affords our team the platform to remain entrepreneurs and principal owners in a fast-growth company. We have yet to come across a commercial real estate services company of this size that is designed by brokers and run by brokers. This is a very exciting opportunity for our entire organization.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening an office in Sacramento, California last week.

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Norm Adams Closes 15,000 SF Las Olas Lease Deal

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National firm Fanatics Mounted Memories, the memorabilia and collectibles division of online retailer Fanatics, has leased 15,295 square feet of headquarters space at the Plaza at Las Olas, where it will be relocating from Plantation.

Founded in 1995, Fanatics is one of the largest online retailers of officially licensed sports merchandise. According to the company, Fanatics powers the e-commerce sites of all major professional sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, PGA; major media brands, including ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and FOX Sports; and hundreds of collegiate and professional team properties.

Stiles Director of Leasing Norm Adams represented the building owner in the transaction.

“Thanks in part to increased consumer confidence, the office market is seeing tenants take a flight to quality in premium locations,” said Adams. “With first-class entertainment and business at its doorstep, Las Olas product has outperformed the overall Broward office market. Las Olas has experienced positive absorption, stable vacancy and increased lease rates.

Stiles is responsible for leasing and property management for Plaza at Las Olas. The 105,000 square-foot building is home to Vibe Lounge and YOLO restaurant.

The Fanatics Inc. lease brings the building to 100% occupancy.

Greg Martin, Keith O’Donnell Sign 43,000 SF

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Avison Young South Florida signed five leases, including one expansion, totaling 42,736 square feet at Lynn Financial Center located at 1875 NW Corporate Blvd. in Boca Raton.

The transactions increased the occupancy at Lynn Financial Center from 35 to 75 percent.

On behalf of the landlord, Avison Young South Florida Principals Greg Martin and Keith O’Donnell and Director of Leasing David Bateman, completed the following transactions:

  • Polen Capital Management, a South Florida based investment management firm, signed a new long-term lease for 12,904 square feet
  • JVB Financial, a national investment firm specializing in the wholesale distribution of fixed income securities, signed a new long-term lease for 9,601 square feet for its new headquarters
  • MDVIP, Inc., a network of physicians and division of Proctor & Gamble, signed a renewal and expansion for 9,325 square feet, totaling 31,084 square feet within the building for its headquarters
  • Frank, Weinberg & Black P.L., a full-service law firm with additional offices in Broward County, signed a new lease for 6,973 square feet
  • Opus Business Centers, a virtual office space provider, signed a new long-term lease for 3,933 square feet to house its corporate headquarters and Boca Raton service operations

“With the support of ownership, we were able to aggressively market the unique virtues of this property,” said Mr. Martin. “In spite of the economic uncertainties we knew we could identify companies that were positioned for the long haul and would be drawn to a quality asset.”

Lynn Financial Center offers twin buildings totaling 123,882 square feet of Class “A” office space in two innovative three-story structures. The buildings are free of interior columns and designed to support open office architecture with extensive use of natural light and sustainable materials which made Lynn Financial Center one of Boca Raton’s first commercial office projects to be Certified LEED® Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Avison Young opened its South Florida offices in 2012 with 30 members joining from Flagler Real Estate Services, a service arm of Flagler, one of Florida’s oldest and largest full-service commercial real estate companies with recent transactional and development activities totaling more than $1 billion.

West Palm Beach Becoming Corporate Tenant Attraction

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Has the increase in leasing activity finally trickled northward? Commercial real estate brokers say they’re starting to notice an uptick in leasing by companies moving businesses downtown.

One example: The leasing activity at the CityPlace Tower office building.

A Fortune 500 company from western Palm Beach County is close to signing a deal to lease 6,600 square feet of space in the tower. The unnamed company would be on the 8th floor, which also houses Neuburger Berman, an asset management firm, and RBC Wealth Management, said Kevin Probel, vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle. The firm handles leasing and management of the 18-story, 300,000-square-foot CityPlace Tower along Okeechobee Boulevard.

In April, Watermark Medical, which evaluates sleep patterns through at-home testings, moved to West Palm Beach’s EcoPlex “green” building at Centrepark West. The move followed a merger with SleepMed, the largest private sleep diagnostics and therapy provider.

The LA Fitness gym, which is coming to CityPlace, is proving to be an attraction to potential tenants eying space in the CityPlace Tower. “LA Fitness has been a big talking point for us,” Probel said. “It’s been a huge advantage.”

Probel said the gym frequently comes up during tower tours. The gym, which is taking over the Barnes & Noble bookstore by year’s end, is within walking distance of the office building.

If the deals are completed, occupancy in the tower will rise to 93 percent from 90 percent.

Meanwhile, another company also is relocating and expanding to West Palm Beach. This one is coming to the Reflections office buildings on Australian Avenue.

Granite Telecommunications LLC, based in Quincy, Mass., is moving and expanding a sales and support center from an existing location in Boynton Beach, said Peter Reed, principal with Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton. At Reflections, Granite Telecommunications will lease 7,800 square feet.

“This deal represents positive absorption for the Australian Avenue corridor,” Reed said. “It’s not just another West Palm Beach shuffle,” where tenants are lured from one building downtown to another. With this and other deals, “West Palm Beach is starting to wake up,” Reed added.

Reflections consists of two buildings, 400 and 450 Australian Avenue. Together, they total 130,000 square feet. The Granite deal brings the buildings’ occupancy to 77 percent, Reed said.

And then there are the secretive dealings for the city’s “tent site,” a property located on Okeechobee Boulevard at Dixie Highway. The land, once caught up in the Digital Domain fiasco, now remains available to potential employers. Up to three candidates are vying for the property but their identities are secret. Mayor Jeri Muoio has stressed that she wants to boost the number of companies based in West Palm Beach.

 

Source:  Palm Beach Post