FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-Seeking a more creative environment for its advertising and interactive marketing firm, Starmark International has relocated to Ft. Lauderdale’s urban core. The agency inked a 10-year lease on 8,038 square feet at 200 S. Andrews Ave. for its new agency headquarters. Starmark will occupy the entire building. The firm relocated from Dania.
Rod Loschiavo and Jim Cahlin of Cushman & Wakefield represented Starmark in its site search and in lease negotiations with the building’s owner, 770 Ft. Lauderdale LLC. Steve Leeds, founder of Green Capital Realty Advisors, represented 770 Ft Lauderdale LLC.
Loschiavo, a senior director in CushWake’s Broward County office, tells GlobeSt.om that the location advantages of operating from Downtown Ft. Lauderdale and the building amenities caught Starmark’s attention. He cited the building’s open spaces and high ceilings as a good fit for the marketing communications firm.
“Downtown Ft. Lauderdale has become a nice place to live and work—and the focal point of the entertainment district for Broward County,” Loschiavo says. “Moving into a freestanding building in a project right next to the art museum plays well with the firm’s creative business. Starmark is the firm that recently promoted Fort Lauderdale in New York City’s Times Square by displaying bathing suits frozen in six-foot blocks of ice.”
Starmark was founded in Chicago, but opened its first Ft. Lauderdale office in 1998. Starmark’s relocation is a downsize, which is not good news for Broward County. Still, the overall office vacancy rate continued to decline through 2010, ending at 17.4% from 19.4% in the first quarter, according to CushWake.
The overall asking rental rate reported $26.24 per square foot at year-end marked the lowest rent since 2006. Rental rates decreased every quarter of the year, demonstrating aggressive landlord strategies and astute tenants negotiating favorable lease provisions for the long term. Downtown Ft. Lauderdale is no exception.
“I am working with two companies that are considering moving from the suburbs to downtown,” Loschiavo says. “The price differential isn’t as great as it normally would be. It would have been cost-prohibitive before but there’s some pretty aggressive deals and it’s a nicer work environment.”
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