White Oak Realty Partners recently signed new leases with Farmers Insurance Exchange and Armour-Eckrich Meats, LLC, totaling 88,857-square-feet, for a net total of 28,082 -square-feet of space at the Central Park of Lisle I, bringing the facility to 92 percent leased.
Armour-Eckrich Meats has occupied a 49,696-square-foot sublease at the facility at 4225 Naperville Road in Lisle since 2007. In an effort to reconstruct its corporate lease, the firm signed a long-term direct lease for 71,479-square-feet. This will make the firm the largest tenant in the building, occupying 23 percent of the building. The firm also subleased 13,000 square feet at the neighboring Central Park of Lisle II, which it will now vacate with the new direct lease.
In the second lease, Farmers Insurance Exchange will consolidate its three offices located in the western suburbs with a new 17,378-square-foot lease on the 3rd floor at Central Park of Lisle I.
The building’s owner, a joint venture between White Oak Realty Partners, Fulcrum Asset Advisors and Angelo Gordon and Company, was represented in-house by Tom Saletta of Saletta Commercial Realty in both leases. Kevin McLennan and Robert Sevim of Studley represented Armour-Eckrich Meats, while Jeff Miller of UGL Equis represented Farmers.
The ownership group purchased the class A complex in March of 2010 for a reported $80 million. Central Park of Lisle I & II is a total 693,000 rentable square feet, of which Saletta has leased more than 130,000 square feet in the last year.
When the firm purchased the building, BP occupied a major portion of Central Park II at 3333 Warrenville Rd. Saletta says that the ownership group was unsure if BP would re-sign when its lease was set to expire at the end of 2010. The energy firm went through a corporate restructuring and decided to vacate the facility in November of last year, leaving a 77,000-square-foot plate on the building’s top two floors.
Saletta has been pleased with progress at Central Park I, but has now focused his efforts on leasing the remaining space at Central Park II. He cites the amenities, such as an on-site health club, and a recently built 80-seat conference center, as selling points to potential large users.
Currently, firms such as RR Donnelley, Harris Bank, JP Morgan, and Wilton Industries, are all reportedly searching the market for large floor plates.
While Saletta would certainly like to fill the space in one large deal, he says that is not the highest priority.
“The strategy at this point has not been to wait for the two-floor user,” he says.
With the amount of users active and the real estate market seemingly in a recovery stage, Saletta believes he can meet the goal this year of leasing the majority of the 77,000 square feet.
“We are feeling confident based on the large users out there looking right now,” he says. “Since we bought the building, we have been impressed by large amount of activity and showings. I’m optimistic that it will happen this year.”
