Class A Leasing Flurry Fills 67,000 SF

Occupancy in the high-rise, part of a four-building, 1.4-million-sf block, rose from 67% to 76% in a deal-making flurry that polishes off all but four of this year's roll, Bill Lokey of Atlanta-based Cousins Property Services LP tells GlobeSt.com. The breakdown is 42,174 sf of new deals and 19,490 sf in expansions for existing tenants. New deals have terms ranging from 40 to 66 months while the renewals of 1,500 sf to 4,000 sf are in place for five years, he says. The bulk of the 2004 roll was locked in late last year when the Cousins team completed a 252,000-sf series for the building owner, TIAA Realty Inc. of New York City.

Making move-in plans are Delta Medical Associates, 14,502 sf; Ciber Inc. of Denver, 11,525 sf; Software Architects, 10,834 sf in a relocation from within the Urban Center; McKenzie Scott, an executive job search firm, 5,731 sf; PetData of Washington state, 4,552 sf; and Canadian-based Gateway News, 761 sf.

Opting to stay in place, several of which are headquarters locations, IMSA Inc., a galvanized steel manufacturer; Majesco Software Inc.; PMAM-Corp., a software servicing provider; Administaff, a temporary job placement company from Houston; Adams & Coffey law firm, based in Beaumont, TX and an accounting firm that's expected to sign this week.

Lokey says the leasing momentum is the strongest it's been since 2000 and almost double the amount signed in the first three weeks of this year in comparison to last year. The sweet spot is all expansions are bringing new jobs, which he estimates will result in about 60 hires. Millennium Center's class A quoted rent is $17 per sf plus electric, but the team uses an effective rent tactic that spreads out the cost and delivers some savings on Day 1 as a counter-play for competitors dangling free rent as the incentive to sign.