New Briarcliffs Include $50M Office, Hotel

Briarcliff Development is currently under construction on the Hilltop at Briarcliff, the nine-story office building, with plans to open the speculative property by the summer. The property is already 55% occupied, with more to be announced soon, says Brent Roberts with CB Richard Ellis, who's marketing the building. "We're close to 85% leased, there's some more deals we have handshakes on," he tells GlobeSt.com. Tenants who have signed on already include Tradebot Systems, Olsen and Associates and FC Stone, who are moving their corporate headquarters from Des Moines. In total, four tenants have signed on, each for more than 25,000 sf, Roberts says. The asking rate is $25 per sf for the building.

The building joins four other office facilities already on the property, all fully leased, Roberts says. Briarcliff One is 68,000 sf, Briarcliff Two is 32,000 sf, Briarcliff Three is 91,000 sf and Briarcliff Village Offices is atop the Briarcliff Village shops, with 55,000 sf of office space. "There's pent-up demand, but it's one of those things where we're not even sure where the deals are coming from," Roberts says. "I guess because we're so close to downtown, five minutes away from all the amenities, but we're putting up some of the nicest property in a suburban area."

The Hilltop building will be adjacent to the new Marriott hotel going up. Briarcliff Development sold the property to local developers Rick Baier and Dan Carr. The 10-story, 200-room hotel is expected to open in late 2009, with the top two floors offered as residential condos.

The area, a former quarry, was helped along by TIF funding all the way through to the newest projects under construction. Current tenants in the park include Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Gold Bank and the American Italian Pasta world headquarters. The area was also designated as a FiberPark center by Southwestern Bell, providing the office area with enhanced telecommunication services and high bandwidth technologies.