Corporate Center 25, South of Greenwood Village
The Challenge
Describing the process by which this deal came about evokes the image of a circus juggler. This class A office building was in a Class B location with a Class D institutional build-out. Among many problem variables with this project were inherent building and design issues, like the labyrinth of offices and corridors in which we literally lost our prospect-guests many times during showings. Another was the fact that of 143,200 square feet, 12,500 was basement space with no windows. Our challenge was to alter the image of this building in the community and lease the space for the owner.
The Solution
The first thing we did was change the name from Cyprus Minerals Building to Corporate Center 25, hoping to attract high-end corporate tenants. We developed an extensive database of referral sources, including economic development agencies, in- and out-of-town commercial and residential brokers, and power and phone utilities.
We designed and built a luxurious lobby in the west building and cleaned up the top floor to reveal the impressive views. We then had dramatic brochures designed, with visual and informational appeal, to take the transformation to market. For added measure, we gave coffee mugs with the building logo to everyone, everywhere. These efforts succeeded in attracting the broker for AT&T who proposed that Corporate Center 25 be the headquarters of a new AT&T national installation, the country’s Merlin phone system service center. But – we needed to find a way to create an additional 190 parking spaces and still present a market competitive deal to make it all work.
Then came the “catch 22.” The building owner wouldn’t close on the adjacent ground for the parking lot until AT&T had signed a lease. And AT&T didn’t want to sign until it had evidence of adequate parking. Our job became one of developing and maintaining trust between all the parties, despite fragile egos, miscommunications, and institutional constraints. We maintained a delicate balance of tension and pressure until the deal was done, eight months later.