TEMPE, AZ—Just as it breaks ground on the first building at The Grand at Papago Park Center, Lincoln Property Company has secured a pre-lease commitment from a major first tenant: leading enterprise application software company SAP America. SAP is currently located in the Scottsdale Galleria, but will relocate to the first building at The Grand at Papago Park Center as it is completed in January 2017. SAP will occupy the top floor measuring 40,000 square feet, relocating approximately 275 employees to the center.

David Krumwiede, executive vice president, Lincoln Property Company tells GlobeSt.com: “This is the first of seven planned office buildings that will provide a balance of modern but also comfortable and collaborative space. It will have a very clear sense of place.”

The first building totals four stories and 213,056 square feet. It is part of the larger The Grand at Papago Park Center, a major urban mixed-use project by master developer Papago Park Center Inc. At build-out, the development will total 60 acres and 3.2 million square feet of mixed-use office, multifamily, hotel, retail and restaurant space surrounding a substantial central water feature. It will also provide approximately one-half mile of freeway frontage to the Loop 202/Red Mountain Freeway between Priest Road and Center Parkway.

Lincoln Property Company and Goldman Sachs are developing the Phase I office component, which will include 1.8 million square feet of class-A office space in seven buildings. Construction on three parking garages will coincide with the buildings' development.

“Signing a major tenant like SAP prior to start of construction proves what we already knew–that this is a premier project on a tremendously well-located site,” said Krumwiede. “Tenants are still showing a very clear demand for innovative, class-A office product in environments like Tempe. The Grand was designed with this unique mix in mind, and it's ready to capture the next wave of requirements.”

SAP was represented in its lease by JLL senior vice presidents Jason Moore and Keith Lammersen. Jerry Roberts, Corey Hawley and Patrick Boyle with CBRE lead the project's office marketing and leasing efforts. Lincoln will serve as the property manager. HKS Architects is the office project architect and Whiting-Turner is the general contractor.

“Companies are clamoring for new, modern space, and they are filling that space almost as quickly as it delivers,” said Moore. “SAP is a great example of this. Their move to The Grand will ultimately give them fantastic on-site and area amenities, significantly improved tenant identity and building signage, along with more centralized access to their business partners and clients.”

Other amenities at The Grand at Papago Park Center include two Loop 202 freeway off-ramps, two light rail stops serving the property, pedestrian-friendly multi-use paths and almost immediate access to Arizona State University and the restaurants, shopping and entertainment within downtown Tempe's Mill Avenue District. It is minutes from Interstate 10, the Loop 101 and the 51 Freeway, and attractions such as Papago Park, Papago Golf Course, Phoenix Zoo, Desert Botanical Garden, Tempe Town Lake and Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

The project sits on the last developable parcel within the 350-acre Papago Park Center, one of the largest business parks in Arizona. Existing corporate tenants within the park include First Solar, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Union Bank, Sonora Quest Labs, State Farm Insurance, Western Refining and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

When combined with Papago Park Center's existing 3.3 million square feet of mixed-use projects, there will be more than 6.5 million square feet of urban development and approximately 20,000 employees and residents at the park.

The Grand at Papago Park Center is named after the adjacent Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is a waterway developed in the 1870s to bring water from the Salt and Verde rivers to Metropolitan Phoenix. It was recently relocated to run through The Grand project, creating a water feature for the development.

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