Charles Schwab & Co.
450,000-sq.-ft. Disposition
Research Park Plaza
Austin, TX
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The Challenge
In early 2001, Charles Schwab & Co. offered most of its three-building, 450,000-sq.-ft. campus at Research Park Plaza for sublease, when a changing economy drove the investment brokerage firm to reduce its Austin presence. When the firm closed its call center in August 2002, it made the entire campus available. But, after more than a year of limited results with another real estate brokerage, Schwab hired CB Richard Ellis in April 2003 to represent the remaining 400,000 sq. ft. for sublease. |
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The Solution
The CBRE team joined forces to launch one of the largest real estate marketing campaigns Austin has ever seen, drawing on Global Corporate Services representatives Volney Campbell and Erin Morales, and on CB's Austin Office Advisory Group of Bart Matheney, David Putman and Chad Barrett.
Aware that Austin was awash in Class-A offices for sublease, with a 30% vacancy rate in the Northwest Sector, the CBRE team directed its campaign outside traditional real estate channels and appealed directly to business leaders. A kickoff barbecue featuring a state-of-the-economy address by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce president drew 300 business leaders and brokers to Schwab's campus, where they were encouraged to tour the space and meet with some of Schwab's national executives. The team placed high-profile advertisements and sent direct mail materials to executives nationwide.
The Result
The results speak for themselves. In less than a year, the CBRE team brokered subleases for 320,000 sq. ft. of Schwab's space. The highlight was Emerson Process management's decision to sublease all 173,500 sq. ft. of Building III through the end of Schwab's lease term in 2012. The subleases brokered by CBRE in nine months reduced Schwab's exposure at Research Park Plaza by approximately $30 million.
On March 30 of this year, the Austin Business Journal named this transaction the "Office Deal of the Year" for 2003.
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