Developer
to unveil Camelback project
Camelback II, an
11-story office building, is expected to open in 2008 at upscale intersection
Yvette Armendariz
The
Feb. 14, 2007 12:00 AM
The priciest corner of Camelback Corridor will
soon get its first office project in seven years.
Houston-based developer Hines plans to announce details Thursday for 24th at
Camelback II, an 11-story, 300,000-square-foot Class A office midrise project.
Rents are set for $40 to $44 a square foot, depending on the floor.
"The location is about as good as it gets," said Bill Olson, vice
president/designated broker with Hines.
Originally, Hines
considered putting luxury condos on the property, which the company has owned
since 2001, he said. But the proliferation of condos along Camelback and
increasing office rents cemented plans to create an office midrise building.
The proposed office building is next to an eight-story, 302,000-square-foot Hines
building on the southwestern corner of Camelback Road and 24th Street, which
last May sold to German company GLL Properties for $113 million. That deal set
a record with space costing $373 per square foot.
Construction for Camelback II is expected to begin in June and to be completed
in fall 2008. It's the last empty parcel on the corner, so the office
construction will be the last for the corner unless a nearby building is razed.
Each floor has between 25,000 and 38,000 square feet of rentable space.
Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial has been selected to handle leasing the
building. Vacancy rates for office in the area have been hovering around 5
percent, which is considered extremely tight. Rents, meanwhile, have jumped
about 37 percent since 2000, according to Grubb & Ellis data.
Several businesses have already called about the tower's space. Interest is
primarily coming from the financial, legal, real estate and insurance segments,
said Tom Jacobs, a senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis. No lease deals
have been signed, but no one is outwardly cringing that the rents are equal to
some
"We're seeing that
tenants are willing to pay the premium to be here . . . (because of) the central
location, freeway access and best amenities in town," Jacobs said.
Hines is giving selected real estate and business professionals a sneak peek of
the project's design at a private reception Thursday. There, Hines will share
project details, including a look at the building's exterior, parking, granite
floors and office layouts.
Hines sought neighborhood input from the start, which has been integral to
making sure there wouldn't be any surprises when seeking city approval for the
143-foot project, Olson said.
The site is surrounded by commercial zoning.
Opposition from neighbors
about building height stymied the former Trump-Bayrock
project, a 140-foot hotel-condo project, at the site of the former Hard Rock
Cafe at
The Hines project is moving ahead smoothly, Olson said. It's also been
certified LEED-CS by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"It's our goal that upon completion of the building it will be LEED
certified," he said.
The Camelback area, as of
the end of last year, was fetching average rents of $36.20 a square foot,
according to Cushman & Wakefield of