The new training center has latched onto space that had been vacated by Fayetteville, AR-based Staffmark, which had leased the site for six years and pulled out of the Austin market after a three- or four-month stint, Steve McMillon, senior vice president of Kucera Cos., told GlobeSt.com. McMillon had been hired by Staffmark to find a new sublease tenant, but instead had been able to negotiate a direct lease for five years and 10 months with La Costa's owner. "It was a good catch," says McMillon, explaining both operations have similar building needs. Computer America provides classroom space and equipment for corporate training.

The Austin facility, which is fetching $23 per sf, is situated just off Interstate 35 and close to the airport. The 8,910-sf office is located in the 83,031-sf La Costa Centre, a 19-year-old office structure that is one of the few class-A properties in its submarket, says McMillon. The property is owned by CMD Realty Investment Fund LP.

Verner Tepe, Computer America's vice president of administration, told GlobeSt.com that leases are pending for 13,000 sf in Parsippany, NJ and 16,000 sf in Boston. And, he says, he's scouring the market for additional space in Las Colinas, Phoenix, Toronto, San Francisco and more in Boston, where a 16,000-sf center has just opened.

In Dallas, Computer America maintains training centers in Exchange Park and the Infomart. The flagship site is a 12,000-sf center in Schaumburg, IL while there are leased holdings in Atlanta, Orlando, Long Beach, CA, Denver, Philadelphia, Fairfax, VA and New York City. A downtown Chicago center recently has opened in 27,000 sf at 30 S. Wacker, Ameritech's former headquarters. A Miami operation will be up and running the first of April.

The six-year-old operation provides the real estate and the client, the expertise. Tepe says IBM Corp. is its largest client, having booked 500 days at training centers nationwide. The advantage to the set up, he says, is that clients can hold training centers in various cities via Computer America's one-stop shop network. It is particularly enticing for high-tech software manufacturers that have the growth, but not the real estate to hold training sessions for new and prospective clients. Computer America also conducts business in Australia, Europe and the Pacific Rim.