Park Central III Team Lands Two Headquarters Tenants

Crescent Processing Co. will set up its headquarters in 23,931 sf while Corner Bakery Cafe grabbed 16,355 sf, of which 1,918 sf will be a first-floor test kitchen. Crescent will come in the door first at 12700 Park Central Dr. as its seasoned upper-management from the credit-card processing industry makes plans to go live in mid-May with an eight-year lease for the entire 11th floor, Kathy Permenter, vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co., tells GlobeSt.com.

Corner Bakery, signing a five-year deal, will be up and running within 90 days, according to Permenter. The Brinker International Inc. bakery-cafe chain was sold in fall 2005 to Il Fornaio America Corp. of Corte Madera, CA, which is mapping out an expansion in existing markets. Besides Texas, Corner Bakery has stores in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Permenter teamed with Grubb senior associate Burson Holman to secure the new tenants for the 512,775-sf class B high rise that's being overhauled by owner, McKnight Property Management Co. of Pittsburgh, which bought Park Central III and the 221,625-sf Park Central IV in August 2005. Local firm Stream Realty Partners LP's Robert Kennedy, a managing director and partner, and Jeff Schweitzer, vice president, represented Crescent. Trammell Crow Co. principal Brant Bernet and associate Carine Rappaport led the months-long search for Corner Bakery, which previously had its management team in Brinker's Dallas headquarters at 6820 LBJ Freeway.

Permenter says the high rise's existing deli, Cafe III, will move to the basement level in J.C. Penney's former employee cafeteria to free up the first-floor space for Corner Bakery's test kitchen. The 14,437-sf office will be set up on the 13th floor in space vacated in October 2005 by J.C. Penney.

As would be expected, Corner Bakery's executives did an extensive market search. "We were able to relocate the deal to Park Central," Permenter says, not disclosing terms but hinting it was an aggressively priced package that racked up the homerun. Park Central III's quoted rate is $17 per sf, full service.

"We have a number of leases working on that building," Permenter says about the hard push to fill the dark halls. "It's an indication of how wonderful the new building owners are. For the right deal, we are giving tenants brand-new space."