Areva T&D Takes 110,000 SF at Willow Creek

REDMOND, WA-Areva T&D Inc. has signed on for 110,000 sf at Willow Creek Corporate Center, a seven-building, 425,000-sf suburban class A office development here that is being developed by publicly held CarrAmerica Realty Corp. of Washington, DC. Some 340 Areva T&D employees are expected to move in early next year, filling five of six floors in buildings E and F, two three-story 66,000-sf buildings built in the late 1990s. The lease takes Willow Creek to 83% occupancy.Areva T&D is a Philadelphia based subsidiary of Areva, an international conglomerate that develops energy management solutions to providers of nuclear power. Its local operation services the electric utility industry. Areva T&D is consolidating from multiple Eastside locations, with the bulk of the people and square footage are coming from Bell-Kirk Office Center, a Stan Rosen-owned development in Kirkland, WA where Areva occupies about 85,000 sf. The move is expected to occur in early 2006. Jeff Scanlan, Tim O’Keefe and Ric Brandt of CB Richard Ellis represented CarrAmerica in the transaction. David C. Rothrock, CCIM of Meriwether Partners LLC represented Areva. The details of the lease agreement were not released by the parties involved and not otherwise immediately available. The triple-net asking rate range for space at Willow Creek is $13.20-$16.00 per sf per year. CarrAmerica’s regional managing director Clete Casper tells GlobeSt.com Areva signed a “long-term” lease, which means Areva has leased the space for at least seven years. Casper declined to reveal the concession package, but it is believed to include a market tenant-improvement allowance and a right of first refusal for the one floor in building F that Areva did not take down.Areva is occupying second-generation space. The previous tenant was Safeco. The space has been available for about one year. Casper says the lease up is a function of the overall economy heating up on the East Side, which first filled up the Downtown class A space in Bellevue and now is spreading out in concentric rings to the second ring of quality class A space. “The quality buildings are starting to be absorbed,” says Casper. “Redmond’s going to get tight here in the next six months along with (suburban Bellevue).”