Insurance Firm Outgrows Owned Space, Leases From Unico

TACOMA, WA-Bratrud Middleton Insurance Brokers has signed a 10-year, 25,727-sf lease for space in Wells Fargo Plaza, a 25-story Downtown office building owned and managed by Seattle-based Unico Properties.

The firm is expanding from a 12,000-sf building it owns and for which a sale is now pending, according to Unico regional vice president Larry Klatt, who spoke to GlobeSt.com Friday afternoon. The new commitment represents one of the city’s largest lease deals this year, says Klatt, who declined to reveal the deal’s average lease rate.

Annual full-service asking rates in the 294,000-sf building range from $19-$23 per sf. Given market conditions, starting net effective rents could be lower than that. If the average full-service rate over the life of the lease was negotiated to $21 per sf, then the deal would be worth right around $5 million, not accounting for owner concessions, which can typically include a couple of months free rent (in trade for a higher face rate) and a tenant improvement allowance of $20 per sf or more.