Jeff Thornton, senior vice president of Duke's Dallas operations, says interviews began first with professionals to replace its 3.5-year leasing director, Blair Oden, who jumped to CB Richard Ellis to become managing director of institutional business. The search was expanded to include firms that could work with Duke's other office leasing broker, Ben Appleby.
"We interviewed a lot of people and groups. It became pretty apparent that Peloton would be a great fit for us," Thornton tells GlobeSt.com. "We really bought into their system of leasing buildings and treating people in an ethical way and putting customer service first. It was almost like looking in a mirror."
Peloton principal Dale Ray will team with Appleby to find and sign tenants for the 150,492-sf One Allen Center at 700 Central Expwy. in Allen; 160,263-sf Duke Bridges III at 7460 Warren Pkwy.; and 179,365-sf Point West I at 1525 S. Belt Line Rd. in Coppell. "All three are different kinds of buildings," points out Joel Pustmueller, partner and co-founder of Dallas-based Peloton, which has scooped up 1.5 million sf in office leasing assignments in the past two months.
One Allen Center is the true class A and the only one in its suburb. The six-story building is 35% occupied. "It's the nicest building out there," Pustmueller says, adding it's primed for smaller office tenants. The quoted rate is $21.50 per sf with a $25 per sf tenant-improvement allowance.
[IMGCAP(2)]The three-story Duke Bridges III is 40% leased. Its chief selling point is its 55,000-sf floor plates and value-office features. "There is a lot of competition in the market, but at the same time, this product type meets a niche," Ray says. Its quoted rate is $20.50 per sf, with a $25 per sf TI package.
[IMGCAP(3)]Point West I is a three-story empty building in one of the area's high-demand suburban markets. "We are seeing a tremendous amount of deals," Ray says. "I think it will be fully leased in six to nine months." Its quoted rate is $20.50 per sf plus electric, also with a $25 per sf TI.
"Having owners like Duke, who are sophisticated, nimble and quick to respond is everything in getting a deal done in a market like this," Pustmueller adds.
Appleby has built a large pipeline of deals for the buildings, but Thornton says he needed help because of the portfolio's size. "It was important to us to keep Ben involved at the leasing level," he stressed, "and he's been very, very busy for six weeks."
Peloton, armed with a 13-million-sf leasing portfolio, puts Duke's name in front of a broad base of tenants in addition to being a source for build-to-suits and future speculative development. "At the end of the day, it gives us a little broader exposure with the brokerage community and tenant community," Thornton says. "We are directly in front of tenants on a day-to-day basis."
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