Dave Ellis and Matt Kayser of Trammell Crow Co. represented building owner Multi-Employer Property Trust in the lease negotiation. Craig Reinhart and Chris Elsenbach of CRESA Partners represented Bioject. None of the parties involved in the transaction would discuss the lease rate, but other local brokers familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com that Bioject will be paying about $0.75 per sf per month, which would put the deal in the $4-million range. "It was a market deal," Ellis tells GlobeSt.com.

With a need to expand their space, Bioject chose Tualatin Corporate Center because it is centrally located for its employees and because it will be able to utilize the existing build out in much of the space it is leasing, minimizing tenant improvement expenses. As part of the lease agreement, MEPT has hired Trammell Crow to complete the build out of its space, which already includes a clean room, labs and production space. Much of the space Bioject is leasing was originally built out for Innovacom, a video-related concern that rejected its lease after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in early 2001.

Located at 20257 SW 95th Pl., Tualatin Corporate Center has eight one-story flex buildings comprising 491,000-sf of leaseable space. Ellis says about 110,000 sf is currently available in the park. While leasing has been slow like everywhere else, Ellis says he's seen several deals recently. "There's been a definite increase in activity in Tualatin for all space sizes," he says. Asking rates for the space are in the low $0.30s per sf per month for shell space; the surcharge for any office build out is $0.65 per sf per month.