Preferred Office Locations

NAIOP, the trade association for developers, owners and investors in industrial, office and related commercial real estate, hosted a webinar with Emil Malizia titled Preferred Office Locations: Comparing Location Preferences and Performance of Office Space in CBDs, Suburban Vibrant Centers and Suburban Areas, which shines a light on location preference when picking an office location. The study, which combines expert opinion and accurate property-level data, provides reliable information about emerging location preferences across major U.S. office markets and the comparative performance of office space in CBDs, suburban vibrant centers — defined as amenity-rich, mixed-use, "live, work, play" locations — and typical single-use suburban areas.

The study sought to address five questions:

1. Do office tenants prefer CBDs to suburban areas?

2. Do office tenants prefer suburban vibrant centers to typical single-use suburban environments?

3. Are office properties in CBDs performing better than those in typical single-use suburban office areas?

4. Are office properties in suburban vibrant centers outperforming those in typical single-use suburban office areas?

5. Are suburban vibrant centers preferred to or performing better than CBDs in their market areas?

Overall, office tenants showed no strong preference for either downtown or suburban locations. The study did, however, reveal a clear preference for suburban vibrant centers over typical single-use suburban office environments, and demonstrated that office properties in suburban vibrant centers are outperforming those in typical single-use suburban office areas on almost all metrics.

To download and watch the webinar, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Amazon Seeks to Expand Seattle Footprint, Add One Block of Office Space

Amazon is hoping to increase its presence in the Denny-Triangle neighborhood by adding another 778,000 square feet of office space on a fourth block to its 3.3 million square foot, three-block campus in Seattle, according to proposals submitted to the city. The permit filing seeks to build a 24-story office tower, 6-story office building, 5-story office podium and retail space to the fourth block, which is bounded by Seventh and Eighth avenues and Blanchard and Bell streets. If the plans are approved by the city, it will give Amazon a total of nearly 4.1 million square feet of space on the four blocks.

In addition, the company's headquarters in the South Lake Union area totals 1.7 million square feet of office, and Amazon leases space in other buildings in downtown Seattle, according to a Puget Sound Business Journal article. Currently, the company is in a total of 3.7 million square feet, and by 2021 it will occupy 8.2 million square feet of space, according to commercial real estate trade group NAIOP. Based on industry standards for employees per square feet, that would be enough for around 41,000 employees.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Seaton Benkowski & Partners Sells Carroll Square Leasehold for $121M

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) announced this week that it had closed the leasehold sale of Carroll Square in DC on behalf of the seller, Seaton Benkowski & Partners, for $121.4 million. GLL Partners purchased the 178,000 square foot office property and assumed an existing loan. Akridge oversees leasing and management of Carroll Square, where the tenant roster includes law firms Seyfarth Shaw, Holland & Hart, and Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto.

Jones Lang LaSalle research director Scott Homa told GlobeSt,com that at $121.4 million, the building's trade shows that prices are not softening here even though sales volume has fallen year-over-year. "Pricing for core, class A buildings averaged $645 per square foot during the first half of 2012, and cap rates remained well under 6% for long-term stabilized assets. Overall, with the federal election looming and little progress being made in establishing a clear fiscal policy, we expect investors to adopt a ‘wait-and-see' posture heading into November."

Carroll Square is a 10-story building at 975 F St., NW and was recognized as the "Best Urban Office Building" of the year by the Maryland/DC Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) upon its completion. Designed by SmithGroup and developed by Akridge in 2007, the trophy-class property incorporates four renovated late 19th century commercial townhouses and the facades of two others, as well as a defining architectural cupola and a distinguished new structure accented with brick and stone.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

NAIOP CRE Annual Meeting in Orlando

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has announced that the Development '10: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate will be held October 27-29 at the Peabody Orlando in Orlando, Florida. With nearly 1,000 attendees expected at the event, three keynotes will be delivered to address the impact of the economic and political landscape on commercial real estate. Speakers will include:

Ed Gillespie, former Chair of the Republican National Committee and Counsel to President George W. Bush, will address the heated political situation leading up to the mid-term elections and how election results will impact a slowly recovering economy and future public policy.

Mark Vitner, Senior Economist with Wells Fargo, will present an economic forecast for 2011 and discuss where the economy stands in terms of long-term recovery.

Chris Lee, president of CEL & Associates, a noted real estate expert, will discuss the evolution of real estate cycles through history and illustrate new growth opportunities as a result of the current cycle.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.