NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Columbia Property Trust, Inc. announced today that it has completed more than 170,000 square feet of leasing transactions year-to-date within its four-building office portfolio in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Buoyed by a mixture of tenant renewals and new leases, this activity represents a substantial increase in leasing velocity compared to the same period in 2018, and was accompanied by average rent rollups of 51 percent. The company’s 2-million-square-foot Bay Area portfolio, which accounts for close to a third of Columbia’s real estate assets nationally, is 97 percent leased.
“San Francisco and Silicon Valley continue to experience very strong demand, with limited new supply coming online,” said Nelson Mills, CEO of Columbia Property Trust. “Our local team continues to capitalize on the market’s strength and our attractive portfolio positioning by successfully growing rents in what has become a fully-leased collection of highly-competitive office properties.”
At 221 Main Street, a Class-A office tower located in the city’s South Financial District, six deals were signed this year, including several new leases, plus one renewal and one expansion. In the most recent transaction, which was finalized last week, Triage Consulting Group signed a five-year lease renewal for 46,000 square feet at the building. 221 Main Street has benefitted from an ambitious upgrade program that includes a new roof terrace opened last year and other high-end upgrades to tenant amenities and common areas. The building is now 100 percent leased.
At 650 California Street – the iconic Class-A office tower in the North Financial District – three leasing transactions representing 62,000 total square feet have been signed so far this year. The most recent (and largest) deal was Credit Suisse’s renewal of 31,000 square feet on two of the building’s top floors. Earlier this fall, mortgage finance firm Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. signed a new lease for 15,000 square feet at the building, which is now 97 percent leased.
In nearby Palo Alto, three leasing transactions were recently signed at University Circle, a Class-A office complex in the heart of Silicon Valley, including a five-year renewal with Wells Fargo for 14,000 square feet.
“The strength of our San Francisco market portfolio from a leasing and occupancy perspective really speaks to the quality of our assets and the dedication of our team here,” said David Dowdney, Senior Vice President and Head of Leasing for the company. “By investing in the city’s most desirable submarkets and adding high-impact amenities to our properties, we have successfully created the types of spaces and the level of service that both our existing and new tenants demand today. The success of that strategy is clearly demonstrated by the continuing and expanding commitment leading tech companies and other valued tenants have made to our properties.”
About Columbia Property Trust
Columbia Property Trust creates value through owning, operating and developing Class-A office buildings in high-barrier U.S. office markets, primarily New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Columbia is deeply experienced in transactions, asset management and repositioning, leasing, and property management. It employs these competencies to grow value across its high-quality, well-leased portfolio of 17 properties that contain over seven million rentable square feet, as well as one property under development. Columbia is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CXP” and has investment-grade ratings from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. For more information, please visit www.columbia.reit.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements contained in this press release other than historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the applicable safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in those acts. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our leasing transactions and prospects and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," or other similar words. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We make no representations or warranties (express or implied) about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we do not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Any such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions involving judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive, and market conditions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately. To the extent that our assumptions differ from actual conditions, our ability to accurately anticipate results expressed in such forward-looking statements, including our ability to generate positive cash flow from operations, make distributions to stockholders, and maintain the value of our real estate properties, may be significantly hindered. See Item 1A in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, for a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risk factors described in our Annual Report are not the only ones we face, but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business.
