Duke Signs Swiss Firm to 80,000-SF Lease

Duke officials declined to disclose the value of the leasing transaction but area brokers familiar with the suburban Norcross submarket tell Globest.com the deal is in the range of $16 million. Duke will lease the remaining 20,000 sf to other tenants at a gross asking rent of $19.50 per sf.

"Duke Realty's ability to acquire an existing building in the location required by the client and to customize the facility into a national headquarters was a highly innovative and efficient solution for Leica," says Sam Friedman, chairman of AFCO Realty LLC which represented Leica in the transaction. Chandler Spratlin, vice president of leasing for the Atlanta Office Group, negotiated for Duke.

Duke is investing about $2 million in renovations. "Leica Geosystems came to us with very specific location and building design requirements to consolidate its Atlanta operations into one national headquarters facility," says Kerry Armstrong, senior vice president of the Atlanta Office Group. "By combining our purchasing power with our integrated development construction capabilities, we were able to move quickly to provide Leica Geosystems with a flexible and cost-effective solution."

Duke and Leica have a long-standing relationship that began in 1992 with a 4,000-sf lease at Druid Chase Office Park off Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. That initial lease grew to 50,000 sf Leica currently occupies. Duke Construction, a division of Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp., is handling renovations on the 100,000-sf building which is expected to be ready for occupancy early in the second quarter.