LOS ANGELES—Watts Plaza, a twin tower 23-story office campus in Century City, has signed 75,000 square feet in new lease agreements, a total value of $33 million. Five companies signed leases at the campus following the vacation of two large tenants. These new leases bring the building occupancy to 90%.

“We are very lucky in Century City that we don't have to chase tenants or cold call to get people to come here,” Kathy McKay, VP of leasing at Watt Plaza, tells GlobeSt.com. “It is desirable enough and comparable enough to Beverly Hills that tenants come when there is available space. We had two tenants that moved out, one with 43,000 square feet and another with a contiguous space on the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th floors, and we have never had a large block like that become available. All of the sudden we were seeing these larger tenants in the market that we typically don't see because we don't typically have large blocks of space.”

NSBN LLP, Resolution Economics, JAMS, Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP and Lieberman Software Corp. are the tenants to sign leases with the class-A office campus. NSBN LLP and Resolution Economics are relocating to the market from Beverly Hills. NSBN LLP will occupy the 16^th floor of the building, while Resolution Economics has leased the full 15^th floor of the property. JAMS will occupy 12,000 square feet on the 14^th floor of the property. Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP and Lieberman Software Corp. are both relocating to Watt Plaza from other locations in Century City. Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP has leased 10,700 square feet o the 6^th floor, while Lieberman Software Corp. leased 13,000 square feet on the 12^th floor. “Rents in all markets have increased over the last year, and Beverly Hills is one of the highest rent markets,” adds McKay. “There are a lot of trophy properties in Century City, which are the highest rents, and we are toward the bottom of the spectrum as far as rental rates. That makes us a great alternative to even Century City tenants. We tend to attract people when rental rates increase this much. Our rates have increased as well, but not as much as the very high rates that are in other markets.”

While lease rates helped to attract these new tenants, Watt Plaza also has a spec suite program that will also help to drive future occupancy. It has completed five new spec suite places, created by breaking up larger floor plates and renovating them to provide a turnkey experience, that range in size from 2,800 square feet to 4,100 square feet. “We have been successful with this program,” says McKay. “This is our third full floor that we have broken up into spec suites, and we have been successful in leasing them up quickly. In Century City the average tenant size in less than 5,000 square feet, and that is why we decided to smaller spaces.”

Watt Plaza is a LEED certified property.

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