JLL Secures Largest Downtown Fort Lauderdale Office Lease Of 2015

JLL has completed a 52,683-square-foot headquarters lease transaction at Tower 101 in Downtown Fort Lauderdale with Uniforms Direct, a provider of quality professional uniforms and scrubs, that is relocating its corporate headquarters from Plantation.
This transaction represents the largest office lease completed in Fort Lauderdale’s urban core year to date, according to a release.
JLL’s Alice Lucia Jackson, Senior Vice President, and Brady Titcomb, Vice President, completed the transaction on behalf of the property’s owner, Banyan Street Capital, which acquired the two-building office complex in 2012.
Uniforms Direct was advised by Matthew Cheezem and Zach Wendelin of Cresa.
 

“Exceptional collaboration amongst the landlord, tenant, the City of Ft. Lauderdale and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance  made this significant transaction for the downtown Fort Lauderdale office market possible,” Ms. Jackson said. “It is very exciting to have a newcomer like Uniforms Direct join the Fort Lauderdale skyline!’

At the newly renovated 21-story office tower, Uniforms Direct will have up to 200 employees occupy its headquarters space, which consists of the penthouse level, the 20^th floor and half of the 19^th and 16^th floors, becoming the building’s largest tenant. The company is expected to occupy the space in the first quarter of next year. Existing tenants at Tower 101 include: Kemet Corp., Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of Fort Lauderdale and Advantage Opco, LLC.
Located at 101 NE 3^rd Ave., the property entails the 177,000-square-foot office tower and a 50,000-square-foot six story building.  Tower 101 is situated within Fort Lauderdale’s Central Business District, just one block north of Broward Boulevard and adjacent to the Federal Courthouse. Building ownership completed a significant renovation of the project last year, upgrading all of its lobbies and common areas to retain the asset’s Class A standing in the marketplace. Successfully executing on Banyan Street Capital’s lease-up strategy, in the last 12 months alone JLL has completed more than 15 transactions – totaling more than 112,000 square feet of leasing in the project. Occupancy in the entire project has gone from 79% to 93% over the last 12 months.
The continued transformation of Downtown Fort Lauderdale has also had a positive impact on the office market.

“We continue to see a market shift as tenants relocate from the suburbs to Downtown Fort Lauderdale. The relocation of Uniforms Direct’s headquarters will have a positive impact on downtown’s vacancy rate, set to drop to 12.7%,” Mr. Titcomb said. “One of the factors drawing tenants to Fort Lauderdale’s urban core is the live-work-play environment taking shape, making it more attractive for tenants and adding amenities like cafes and restaurants.”

 

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