The Texas merchant builder/developer's newest catch is CNA Insurance which is taking 67,000 sf for 10 years at an estimated aggregate gross rent of $12 million. The new space complements the insurance firm's nearby 325,000-sf campus. Jim Buddruss of Dallas-based Swearingen Realty negotiated for CNA.

Other tenants in the class A Reserve at Maitland are Countrywide Home Loans Inc. with 30,000 sf and Earth Tech Inc., a Tyco subsidiary, with 21,000 sf.

Howard Lee of Carter & Associates-ONCOR negotiated for Countrywide. John Guitar of Lincoln Property Co. represented Earth Tech. Matt Greer, director of leasing for Simmons Vedder, represented the property owner in all of the transactions.

Seven-year to 10-year leases for class A space are becoming the standard in the industry today and Simmons Vedder is following suit.

"With the economy being what it is, we try hard to do nothing less than a seven-year lease," Greer tells GlobeSt.com.

Average asking rent at The Reserve is $14 per sf with a triple net addition of $5 per sf. On a triple net or net net net lease, the tenant pays a pro rata share of the building's maintenance, insurance and taxes.

"With the type of buildings we construct,tenants not only benefit from a lower base rent, but lower operating expenses as well," Greer tells GlobeSt.com. "This is because there are no costs associated with heating and cooling lobbies and other common areas that multi-story buildings have, not to mention the tax assessment is lower for a single story project than multi-story."

The Simmons Vedder executive says, "Tenants like our product because it amounts to a build-to-suit for them. They are able to design the space to precisely fit their needs, instead of trying to fit in within the confines of a multi-story building's core."

Simmons Vedder proved that with its first two buildings in east Orlando five years ago. The 150,000-sf, Discovery Lake I at Central Florida Research Park was sold last spring at 100% occupancy to Sentinel Real Estate Corp. of New York.

Fortune 500 tenants in Discovery Lake I are AT&T, Autonomous Technologies, Cotelligent and Hewlett Packard.

Discovery Lake II, a 55,078-sf sister structure, was finished in January of this year and is 100% leased. TRW Inc. has 25,000 sf; Optium Inc., 30,000 sf. Mike Fess and Jennifer Sharabba of Equity Partners was TRW's broker. Nan McCormick of CB Richard Ellis Inc. negotiated for Optium. Greer represented Simmons Vedder.

"We'll probably be selling that one shortly as well," Greer says. Hard construction costs are running at $110 per sf to $115 per sf "and maybe even north of that," Greer tells GlobeSt.com.

Simmons Vedder also has Lincoln Park at South Park, a 132,000-sf office structure at Commodity Circle and John Young Parkway. The nine-month-old building already has a 30,000-sf tenant in Banco Popular. Brokers Dave Chapin and Andy McCaw of Grubb & Ellis Co. negotiated for the tenant. John Guitar of Lincoln Property Co. represented Simmons Vedder.

Nine-year-old Simmons Vedder, founded by Tom Simmons and Wolf Vedder, has built or bought $300 million worth of office and multifamily product since 1995 in Atlanta, Austin, Corpus Christi, TX, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio and Washington, DC. On its own, the company has developed 50 million sf to date.

Simmons Vedder's strategy is to spot a niche market ahead of the herd, move in, develop a quality product, lease it up quickly, then sell it, usually within a five-year period.

Of the company's Orlando products, Greer says, "Our timing was right in the development stage and that's what this business is all about."