The company's need for more space was prompted by its recent acquisition of Imark Communication's First Contact division, which produced some 4,000 trade show events last year for third parties nationwide. Rob Griffith, the COO of Opus Ventures, which owns both operations, tells GlobeSt.com it is moving from class A office space to flex-office space because it needed warehouse space as well as office space. The lease incorporates 5,000 sf of warehouse space and 20,000 sf of office space.

EOP was represented in the transaction by in-house rep Nancy Ward and Trammell Crow Co. brokers Mike Nye and Jeff Falconer. Dave Ellis, also of Trammell Crow Company, represented Opus Ventures. The asking rate for the office space was around $1 per sf per month, but negotiated rents have gone much lower recently, depending on the amount and type of owner concessions. The parties involved wouldn't reveal the negotiated lease rate on this deal, but local brokers familiar with the transaction tell GlobeSt.com that it included turnkey tenant improvements, some free rent and the waiving of its estimated $400,000 lease overhang at Kruse Woods III.

The lease backfills a portion of the 100,000 sf in the park that will be vacated in July by First Consumer's National Bank, whose parent company, Spiegel, has filed for bankruptcy. First Consumer's leases 30,000 sf in Building 10 and another 70,000 sf in Building 6. If the rest of First Consumer's space isn't backfilled by the end of July, direct vacancy at the 696,000-sf park will rise from about 10% to more than 20%.