Fortis Turns Over 1M SF to JLL's Leasing Team

DALLAS-Solidifying its business with Fortis Property Group, Jones Lang LaSalle’s local team has cornered leasing rights to the 731,736-sf Harwood Center in the CBD and proposed 288,000-sf Galleria Tower IV in North Dallas. In recent months, the JLL team has racked up nearly six million sf of office leasing assignments in compete and no-compete scenarios.

The New York City-based Fortis hasn’t had a brokerage team in place since May 2006 when it acquired the 36-story, class A Harwood Center at 1999 Bryan St., according to J. Dale Ray, JLL’s senior vice president and regional leasing director. The outsourcing decision comes just weeks before Fortis is faced with a 90,000-sf vacancy, of which 73,929 sf is direct space of leaseholder, Novato, CA-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and the balance tied to a sublease tenant. When the dust settles, Harwood Center’s occupancy will be 80%.

“There’s a need for a group to work on the vacancy that’s coming and position it to land the next tenant,” Ray says. The 25-year-old Harwood Center underwent a renovation in recent years so that part of the heavy lifting is done. The marketing push will focus on a 130,000-sf contiguous block–part due to Fireman’s Fund loss and part attrition. The hook is being set with a $20-per-sf-plus electric rate.