First Industrial mailed about 50 BMW keys to top industrial brokers in the northeast market with a small brochure that read: "We want to put you in a new BMW. In your hand right now is the key to a brand new BMW X-5. It's sharp. It's got some muscle. It's waiting to go home with you. All you need to do is bring us a deal. Freeport Business Center, at I-70 and Peoria, has 82,044 sf available. If you can fill it, the car is yours.''
The winning broker needs to bring a signed lease to First Industrial no later than Sept. 1. It must be for a minimum of five years and the tenant must meet First Industrial's standard for credit worthiness.
But Paul Kluck, a leasing associate at First Industrial who helped come up with the idea, says you shouldn't read too much into the deal.
''I don't think it's a harbinger of a coming soft market or anything,'' Kluck tells GlobeSt.com. The main thrust behind the program is to make sure First Industrial gets to see any deals in the 80,000 sf range.
Kluck says building owners often will add a percentage point to the commission, but First Industrial thought this program was a little more eye-catching.
''Quite a few brokers drive four-wheel drives and we thought this would get their attention,'' he says. ''The market has seen some activity above 100,000 sf and there's plenty of activity for 15,000 sf or less, but the 40,000-sf to 80,000-sf is a little bit slow.''
The building had been leased by Aspen Pet Products, which took over 184,000 sf in the former Webvan building at the Stapleton Business Center, owned by Catellus Development.
Aspen Pet has another three years on its lease, but doesn't want to sublet it.
''They're in the pet supply business, not the real estate business,'' Kluck says. ''They don't want to be a landlord.''
To keep the campaign in front of brokers, in a month First Industrial will send them a yo-yo that looks like a tire with the BMW logo on it. The following month brokers will get a ''little BMW Matchbox-type model.''
But Denver brokers better be careful.
In 1995, Denver developer Bill Pauls offered a custom, brand-new Harley Davidson to the broker who did the most deals in his then fledgling 1,200-acre Gateway project by the Denver International Airport. In 1996, Pauls handed over the keys to the motorcycle to a broker from St. Louis.
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