Topping the 90% level has been a long haul, Diane Parker, director in the local office of Cushman & Wakefield, tells GlobeSt.com. She and director Maggie Kurtz in the same office represented the owner, Flagler Development Co., which acquired the property from Atlanta-based VEF Advisors in February.
"The building came to market at exactly the wrong time," Parker says, calling 2001 "a year of doom for the AirportWest/Dade County submarket. Four buildings aggregating 750,000 sf came on line, and more than 200,000 sf of sublease space was dumped back on the market, which only totals about 10 million sf. For three years, it was tough going, but 2004 marked a turnaround."
Year-to-date there has been a total of 467,239 sf of leasing in the submarket, according to Parker, which is a 27% increase in leasing activity over 2004. In addition, mid-year rental rates in the submarket rose 22.5% to $21.47 per sf. "No building here compares with Doral Concourse," she adds, referring to its 40,000-sf footplates, parking ratio of 4.8 per thousand sf and "superior interiors and infrastructure."
A top-floor, 40,727-sf lease to Starboard Cruises, which operates retail shops on cruise lines, "started the snowball in this building," Parker says. The tenant roster now also includes General Mills' Latin America div. and the locally based international law firm of Greenberg Traurig.
David Preve of the local office of Cresa Partners represented Wachovia. Allen White of the local Colliers International office represented Humana.
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