GM Relocating Team Into 51,533 SF at Landmark Building

The stair-stepped lease, with four bumps over the term, takes effect May 1 for floors 11 and 12 in the 352,162-sf high-rise at 225 E. John Carpenter Freeway, says Tom Cruikshank, vice president and leasing director for Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. "We got pretty aggressive to make that deal," he tells GlobeSt.com. The terms include a finish-out in the high $20 per sf range, says Cruikshank, who teamed with JLL's Maschera Usrey to negotiate for the building owner, Colonnade Properties of New York City.

General Motors will move a trio of diverse teams from 130 E. John Carpenter Freeway, a 75,694-sf building it sold two years ago to the San Francisco-based Catellus Development Corp. The Detroit automaker, which searched for a year for the right spot, was represented by a JLL tenant rep team, Marti Nemer in Dallas and Michael Stafford in the Detroit office. The move coincides with General Motors' lease expiration with Catellus, brokers say.

General Motors is taking over two floors darkened a year ago by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., an exit that opened up the first space in awhile in the tower. Last November, Cruikshank closed a straight-up renewal for 125,000 sf with Bank of America for its space. "It really stabilized that building and this puts it back to 94% occupancy," he says. The class A space is on the market for $19 per sf plus electric.

The Las Colinas office market, as everyone knows, has had a hard two years, shouldering one of the highest vacancies in the region. "It's been very slow," Cruikshank says. "This is not just good news for Las Colinas Tower."