Three companies have subleased more than 78,000 sf of space in the 483,700-sf office tower, raising the building's occupancy rate to 87%. AON, a Chicago-based insurance company, recently subleased more than 26,000 sf. Locally based Cleardata.net, a telecommunications company, subleased 39,400 sf and another Phoenix telecommunications firm, Netdirect, has leased 12,300 sf.

The Viad Corporate Center occupancy rate has hovered around 55% for the past four years, ever since once-giant Dial Corp. split into two companies, Dial and Viad, and moved its Dial headquarters out to cheaper digs near Scottsdale Airpark.

The new sublease activity reflects the turnaround in the office market in Uptown Phoenix. Less than two years ago, the Uptown area lagged every other submarket in town, with a vacancy rate above 20%. But strong subleasing over the past several months has pushed the Uptown vacancy factor down to about 13%, not much higher than Phoenix's marketwide vacancy rate of 11.2%.