Law Center Under Way at First National

Steve Eisenshtadt of the company said the center, costing $2.5 million, will include 46 private offices, high-speed Internet access, receptionist services, a mock courtroom and video deposition rooms, among other legal goodies.

"It's not finished yet. We think it will be operational in about 60 days," Eisenshtadt said. "We expect to include the West Law Firm and possibly the Detroit Bar Association as tenants."

A variety of other law firms are also interested, Eisenshtadt said.The Penobscot and First National buildings Downtown, acquired by LNR Property Group of Miami from San Diego-based Capstone Advisors in early 2002, is managed and promoted by Friedman.

Eisenshtadt said LNR also plans on spending $6 million on upgrades to the facility.First National is about 70% occupied, with attorney firms making up about half the tenants, he said.

"The prominent tenant base downtown is lawyers," Eisenshtadt told GlobeSt.com. "First National is located across from the Wayne County Courthouse, and right near the 36th District Court."

He said that lawyer firms have been moving out of downtown and into the suburbs for the last 30 years. This new law center will provide the suburban firms with space downtown, Eisenshtadt said."We can provide them a downtown presence. They can lease 150-sf and pay about $1500 a month rather than have a huge staff down here and a long-term lease," he said.

Normal rates for office space in the building are about $14.50 to $17.50 per sf," Eisenshtadt said."The leases in the law center will typically be one-year terms. We're also trying to reach one-person firms that want to share space," he said.

Main tenants in the building include the law firms of Honigman Miler Schwartz and Cohn, and Lewis & Munday, which both occupy about 26% of the 75-year-old building.Eisenshtadt said his company is negotiating the extension of leases for the firms. Honigman's is up in three years, and Lewis' is up late next year, Eisenshtadt said.

He said the law center concept is similar to a 45,000-sf high-tech smart center in the Penobscot Building."The executive space there was fully leased up when we introduced it in 1999, and the conferencing space was heavily used," Eisenshtadt said.The success of this center has settled to about 80% occupied. Penobscot dropped from 76% occupied in 2000 to 66% now.