Travel Group Leases 50,000 SF for New HQ

The new tenant was formerly known as Carlson Leisure Group before being spun off by Carlson in January. This four-story property will be the travel agency's first headquarters, says the company chairman and CEO Michael Batt in a statement.

Sevenich tells GlobeSt.com that the five-building complex is now again fully leased. "Even though Life Time still had another year with us, we were able to secure a tenant to fill that space. Life Time also vacated another 12,000-sf building, and we were able to backfill that as well, so we've had some positive absorption," he says. His company bought the complex more than a year ago for about $111 per sf, sources say.

The local office market is a little down, seeing about 17.7% vacancy, Sevenich says. "Our property here isn't new, it's about 15 to 20 years old, but there's great visibility from the highway. It's a corporate venue," he says. The lease rate and term can't be divulged, he says, but the average office lease rate is about $20.63 for class B space, according to a Grubb & Ellis market report. Gary Ryan represented the building owner in the lease, and Jim Freytag, FVP with CB Richard Ellis, represented Travel Acquisitions.

A Life Time spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the company moved to the nearby suburb to consolidate its people. "We're now able to have 400 to 500 team members in one facility, as opposed to multiple buildings," the spokesman says. "Plus, we're right next to our test facility, where all our research and development for fitness centers around the country takes place." He says there's room on the Chanhassen property to build another office building of equivalent size, if expansion is needed.