DETROIT—The New York-based Time Equities Inc. has named Newmark Grubb Knight Frank as the exclusive leasing and management agent for Travelers Towers I & II, the 790,000-square-foot, class A office complex located at 26533-26555 Evergreen Road in suburban Southfield. NGKF should know the property and submarket quite well. The firm just finished representing Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the sale of the complex to an investor group led by Time Equities last month.
NGKF still has a great deal of work to do. Although thousands of employees for companies such as Quicken Loans have been flooding into the city's downtown offices, many outlying suburban developments such as Travelers have suffered. The occupancy rate for the complex sank as low as 30% during the recession. In the last 24 months, however, the NGKF team, which also handled Travelers' leasing when it was owned by Lehman, has boosted that rate up to 50%.
Frederick Liesveld, executive vice president and managing director, says NGKF remains “confident that our comprehensive approach to delivering real estate services will add value for both tenants and ownership. This assignment is a result of an integrated team effort that included leasing, capital markets and property management. By working together, we were best able to demonstrate the synergies inherent in the NGKF platform.”
Senior Managing Director Daniel Canvasser and Associate Mike Valant will continue to handle leasing. Assistant Vice President Andrew Tracey will oversee management services at the property.
“When we purchase an asset such as the Travelers Towers, we find it is important to work with a local team that knows the market well,” says Time Equities Chairman Francis Greenburger. “Now, with this team in place, we are in a great position to move forward in leasing up the property. We'll also work closely with the management team to add improvements as necessary to ensure tenants have what they need for a productive office environment and to maintain Class A status.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
