The $500,000 renovation has been credited with a 12,500-sf direct deal and dropping another two into the pipeline, which could fill nearly 14,000 sf more in the six-story building at 7610 N. Stemmons Freeway. The just-signed deal pushes occupancy just a shade beyond 50%, according to Bruce Stern, vice president of new development for the Lakewood, NJ-based Diversified.
Stern's post-renovation dealmaking is just beginning. He's now offering a 6.5% commission or 2% more than the norm to the first broker in the next six months who gets a five-year deal signed for the building's full-floor, 21,000-sf opening.
Stern tells GlobeSt.com that the upgraded, high-tech security make-over was the sole reason that the building landed Texas Truck Insurance Agency Inc. as its newest tenant. The firm, signing a five-year lease, is planning a late July move-in to the sixth floor from 8500 N. Stemmons Freeway, where it occupies about 9,000 sf.
Meanwhile, one of the insurance company's financial customers, now in a class AA office in Uptown, is in talks for 7,500 sf to 10,000 sf in the building, says Sharon Friedberg, vice president with Dallas-based Bradford Cos., who leases the asset for Diversified. Also in play is a 4,000-sf lease. "We've had some good activity," Friedberg says. "Bruce empowers us to make deals." The space is being marketed at $14 per sf, full service.
Diversified Capital is holding a brokers' luncheon tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to show off the renovations, which include a two-perimeter security system that requires a card key or clearance from a guard to access the grounds. Digital cameras in the parking lot and a 24/7 manned security desk are now on line. The renovated lobby includes fresh floral arrangements and a tenants' lounge to soften the measures it takes to get inside the walls.
Stern says a second renovation phase will get under way in the near term. The next step will be to redo the sixth-floor conference room and add a first-floor fitness center. The Omaha-based HDR Inc. and HDR Security Division crafted the redesign.
"I wanted to make it the most secure building in the corridor. It's going to bring tenants to this building," Stern explains. "Of all the properties we own in Dallas/Fort Worth, this is the most compelling in the whole portfolio. This is an A-minus building at B prices. The take-home message is this building is the best value in the DFW region."
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