C&W Tapped to Lease Up Torre Mayor

MEXICO CITY-After a couple of years going it alone, owner-developer Reichmann International has tapped Cushman & Wakefield to assist it in leasing up Torre Mayor, which at 55-stories and 904,000-sf is this city’s largest office tower. Completed last year and anchored by Deloitte & Touche, the building’s 870,000 sf of office space remains 47% vacant, though two deals in the works are expected to drop that to 40% in the near term.Victor Lachica, head of C&W’s Mexico City operations, tells GlobeSt.com that based on what remains to be leased, it is one of his operation’s largest agency assignments. C&W Mexico City brokers Luis Zetina, Federico Alcocer, and Pablo Yrizar comprise the leasing team for the project. Lachica says three or four years ago, when Reichmann began the foundation for the 732-foot-tall building, it brought on a former C&W broker to begin the search for tenants, but was unable to land a tenant in the pre-construction phase. The first anchor tenant deal–a 10-year, 220,000-sf lease with Deloitte & Touche–was not finalized until the building was 50% complete. “That client was in the hands of many brokers,” says Lachica. “Ultimately there were three different brokerage firms involved and someone inside (Reichmann) thought that was too complicated.” As for why the chose C&W, Lachica says his operation has become a strong player in the tenant rep side, having closed a majority of the deals over the past three years. “We know our players and prices,” says Lachica. “Our added value to Reichmann is our knowledge of who’s in the market, what level of pricing can be achieved and what special offers should be made to attract the best tenants.”The vacancy rate for the top tier of office buildings in Mexico is about 18% and the going rate is $18- to $24 per square meter. Lachica says the asking rental rate for Torre Mayor is $27- to $30 per square meter, which is the top end of the market. For that premium, however, tenants get to be in the newest building in the city with the most amenities. As well, he says Reichmann has the ability to finance all tenant improvements. “Because of all the features and special things the building and its developers can offer, it gets to be a very good alternative,” says Lachica.Located at Paseo de la Reforma 505, the building stands at the western entrance to the Paseo de la Reforma business corridor, in the middle of the two main Mexican business districts, Reforma Avenue and Lomas-Polanco. In addition to Deloitte & Touche, tenants include Hewlett Packard de Mexico; McKinsey & Co.; Mercer Management Consulting; First Data Corporation; Marsh Brokmann & Schuh, Horwath International; and Orlandi de Mexico. The building’s 35,000-sf of retail is fully leased to HSBC; ING Commercial America; Starbucks; and Scotia Bank Inverlat.