A renovated downtown skyscraper has brought occupancy to 80 percent with the addition of several new office leases.
Law firm Stewart Wiegand & Owens, IT firm Ecenta America, and the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects have all leased space within Republic Center at 325 North Saint Paul St. The 1950s-era building has been renovated within the last decade.
Younger Partners’ Kathy Permenter, Trae Anderson, and Sarah Savage represent Republic Center.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of activity there,” Permenter said. “Some people say downtown isn’t active, but we’re extremely active. [Republic Center] is such an iconic building with 11,000-square-foot floor plates, which gives a small tenant a lot of prominence.”
AIA Dallas leased 13,708 square feet of office, exhibition, and meeting space on the first two floors in a long-term lease. As you’d expect from a group of architects, AIA will transform its space before moving in next summer. Solender/Hall’s Eliza Solender represented AIA Dallas.
Many architects have offices nearby, including CallisonRTKL in Republic Center’s third tower. The three-tower, 750,000-square-foot Republic Center includes office space, apartment units, and parking.
Stewart Wiegand & Owens leased 5,238 square feet. Avison Young’s Charlie Morris represented the law firm. Ecenta will move into 2,954 square feet. Dave Perry-Miller’s Michael Domke represented the IT firm.
The building’s owners have recently raised rents to around $21 per square foot, plus electric. But Savage said the building is still retaining many tenants.
“Very few [tenants] relocate, and many have expanded to take full floors or to double their space,” Savage said.
Permenter expects the leasing momentum to continue into 2018. “We expect to be closing another 30,000 square feet before year’s end,” she said.
