Douglas Development, announced three law firms leased space at its 18-story office development, PNC Bank Center, 222 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington. The leases, which total nearly 45,000 square feet include three law firms:
- Barnes & Thornburg, a full-service national business law firm providing legal advice in litigation, intellectual property, labor and employment, government services and finance, healthcare, real estate, environmental, corporate and restructuring and insolvency, signed a lease for the 12th floor totaling 24,180 square feet.
- Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm, which signed a lease for the 16th floor totaling 13,477 square feet.
- Labaton Sucharow, a shareholder rights firm, signed a lease for the 15th floor totaling 5,970 square feet.
CBRE Senior Vice President John Kaczowka represented Douglas Development during the lease negotiations while Bobby Blair, senior managing director and Blaise Fletcher, managing director of JLL brokered Barnes & Thornburg; Michael Shuler, executive managing director and Wills Elliman, senior managing director of Newmark handled Greenberg Traurig. Labaton Sucharow represented themselves in the lease negotiations.
“Having only acquired the property just prior to the onset of Covid in Q4 2019, we are happy to see the continued leasing velocity the CBRE team has brought to 222 Delaware,” stated Norman Jemal, managing principal of Douglas Development. “With the capital upgrades made, including a state-of-the-art fitness center, a new conference center and upgrades to the main lobby, common areas and restrooms, we are confident we will only continue to see more leases made with companies eager to get back to an office environment.”
All tenants are expected to occupy their new office space during the second and third quarters of this year, 2022.
“Demand from law firms continues to be strong as they seek to relocate from older outdated spaces to new, modern spaces that helps attract and retain employees,” said Kaczowka. “222 Delaware Avenue completed a major renovation that includes new ‘tenant only’ fitness and conference facilities along with upgraded elevators, lobbies and restrooms.”
Built in 1987 and renovated in 2021 after Douglas’ acquisition, PNC Bank Center is a Class A, 273,374-square-foot, high-rise office building. It provides an abundance of amenities within the building and includes six levels of parking, the highest parking ratio in the market.
Other tenants include Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Eckert Seamans, Polsinelli, Fish & Richardson and Drinker, Biddle & Reath among others.
Founded by Douglas Jemal in 1985, Douglas Development is a privately operated and family-owned integrated real estate company with a current portfolio of more than 10 million leasable square feet and more than five million square feet of developable real estate in the pipeline throughout the District of Columbia, suburban Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. More information is available at www.douglasdevelopment.com.
