IRVING, TX-Wells REIT II has awarded the leasing assignment of One MacArthur Ridge to CB Richard Ellis’ local office. Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc. has occupied the 253,499-square-foot, class A office building since its completion in 1998, and is vacating the premises by year end as part of a consolidation effort by parent company Verizon Communications Inc.

CBRE senior vice president J.J. Leonard tells Globest.com that the building at 919 Hidden Ridge Dr. had been built by Opus, which had secured a lease with Verizon from the start. Atlanta, GA-based Wells REIT II, which acquired the building in 2005, renegotiated a five-year renewal with the telecom company in 2007. “We’re marketing it as a single opportunity, but would be willing to subdivide it for the right situation,” adds Leonard, who is teaming with CBRE first vice president Burson Holman in marketing the asset.

Leonard says internal discussions and analyses with Wells REIT II are underway to determine what, if any, improvements need to be made to the building. The quoted lease rate is $21-per-square-foot to $22-per-square foot gross, plus electric, with TIs negotiable.

Leonard points out that the office building offers a number of benefits, not the least of which are plenty of parking, a central location and the quality of the owner. The fact that the building offers 250,000 square feet of contiguous space is an added plus, he comments, especially in a submarket like Las Colinas.

“We’ve definitely seen a lot of activity and absorption in that submarket during the past nine to 12 months,” Leonard explains. “With the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail being completed and coming through there in the near future, that’ll help boost activity even more.”

Though the national economic picture is still somewhat ambiguous, Leonard notes that Texas in general and Dallas in particular have done well, which should help make One MacArthur Ridge an attractive location for a corporation.

“Corporations are seeing that the Dallas area is a great place to be for the usual reasons; quality of life, central time zone, weather and infrastructure,” Leonard comments. “We’re seeing that corporations both in the Dallas area and outside want to do business here.”