WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(SANTA ANA, CA) -- Santa came early this year to the home of Grubb & Ellis Co.

The Santa Ana, CA-based real estate services and investment firm participated in a total 693,000 square feet of transactions over the past 30 days.

In its newest deal, closed today, Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial handled a 50,000-square foot office lease. The  U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is taking the space at Yourland, a mixed-use, 20-acre development between Downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport.

Grubb & Ellis|BRE brokers Mark Stratz, Tyler Wilson, Mike Haenel and Andy Markham represented landlord Martha + Mary of Phoenix, AZ.  Julie Stoner of Jones Lang LaSalle negotiated for the government agency.

Sloane McFarland

Sloane McFarland, a Martha + Mary principal, says Citizenship and Immigration Services will be the anchor tenant in the first phase of the Yourland development that will include 80,000 square feet of industrial flex, office and retail space. The second phase will have 150,000 square feet of office and retail space. The first phase is expected to be completed by Dec. 31 of this year, says McFarland.

Grubb & Ellis also closed a 96,000-sf, 20-year lease at BP America Tower in Downtown Cleveland, OH to Huntington Bank. Alex Jelepis, a senior vice president in Grubb & Ellis' Office Group, handled the transaction.

BP Tower

"With various mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies, this building has seen a turnover of over 500,000 square feet since 2000," says Jelepis. "The fact that the 45-story building is now 90 percent leased shows how strong a product the building is."

Huntington will occupy the sixth and seventh floors as its regional headquarters, plus a portion of the 11th floor and street-level retail space.

In Marlton, NJ, Grubb & Ellis closed a 47,000-sf office lease at Lake Center IV.  Conner Strong Cos. Inc., a national provider of property and casualty insurance and employee benefits, signed a 10-year lease to occupy the third and fourth floors of the four-story building.  The tenant plans to move in during March 2009.

"The large amount of space became available at Lake Center IV when the mortgage lending company that previously occupied the space dissolve," says Kent Peters, executive vice president, asset management, Grubb & Ellis Co.

Lake Center

"We were able to backfill the space quickly with a high-quality tenant and I couldn't be more pleased with our results on behalf of the tenant-in-common owners of this asset."

In its biggest deal of the year, Grubb & Ellis was selected by San Diego, CA-based Sharp HealthCare to manage 500,000 square feet of medical office space in and around San Diego.  
Grubb & Ellis will also provide lease administration services for 80 Sharp HealthCare leaseholds throughout San Diego County.

Hans Mumper

"We are very pleased to establish this relationship with Sharp HealthCare," says Hans Mumper, Grubb & Ellis senior vice president and director of management services for the firm's Southern California market.

"Our goal, as a company, is to provide comprehensive services to our clients, and this multi-practice assignment demonstrates our ability to serve as a one-stop real estate services provider."