The 11.5-year lease at the CNL Financial Group-owned building has an estimated aggregate rent of $22 million, based on an estimated effective rent of $23 per sf, Downtown office brokers intimate with the deal tell GlobeSt.com. The lease was signed in March 2004 when CNL Center II was still under construction, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. A representative for the Akerman Senterfitt tells GlobeSt.com the lawyers "chose not to comment" on the aggregate value of their lease at this time.

The firm continues to lease an additional 28,660 sf at the 18-story, 258,321-sf Citrus Center at 255 S. Orange Ave., where they have been a Downtown tenant since 1971. Citrus Center is about 200 yards from CNL Center II. The law firm's information technologies department, along with accounting, human resources and national administration personnel will remain at their Citrus Center quarters.

"We've continued to experience significant growth, both locally and firm wide in the past several years and as a result, our Orlando office was spread over eight floors in our previous building," says Rob Mellen, Akerman Senterfitt's Orlando managing shareholder. "Not only is CNL Center II a great address in the heart of Orlando's business district, but it also allows us to consolidate our operations on contiguous floors, achieving a higher level of efficiency and a greater sense of unity."