SmartStop Corp. Subleases From IBM

PORTLAND-Locally based SmartStop Corp. has subleased the better part of the sixth floor at 315 SW 5th from Armonk, NY-based International Business Machines. IBM leases four floors (34,000 sf) in the 80,000-sf building. The term of SmartStop’s sublease matches the remaining term on IBM’s lease, which runs through July 2005. IBM has subleased about 18,000 sf of its space and continues to seek takers for the remaining 16,000 sf. IBM’s advertised sublease rate is $12 per sf per year, which compares to a direct asking lease rate of $17.50 per sf. A big part of the reason for the good rate is that most of the leases that many companies have been trying to sublease were signed five years ago and are now running out, says Patricia Raicht, Grubb & Ellis’s director of research for the Portland area. “Tenants out there willing to take short-term space can get a really good deal,” says Raicht.Tom Remley, Dave Squire and Brad Fletcher of Grubb & Ellis have the sublease assignment on behalf of IBM. Craig Reinhart of Cresa Partners represented SmartStop in the transaction.