The concrete-and-steel frame of the One Central Park East office high-rise has been rapidly rising near Van Buren and First streets.
Snagging tenants for the 26-story downtown Phoenix building, however, has been slow going, the developer says.
Early lease talks are under way with several prospective tenants for the 485,000-square-foot building, said Andrew Conlin, managing director of Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Real Estate Inc. Those talks represent proposals to rent 800,000 square feet, Conlin added.
While some of those discussions have led to negotiations for letters on intent - a step before an actual lease - no leases have been signed yet, he said. The building is expected to open in September 2009.
"The challenge that has arisen is that the lease market has been impacted by the economy a little bit," Conlin said.
That's because the modern glass tower that Mesirow Financial plans to build is, financially speaking, a time capsule, an expert says.
One Central Park East reflects the commercial real estate market of 18 months ago, when it was possible to get financing for a building that had few or no confirmed tenants, said Donald Mudd, a senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial real estate consulting firm.
With today's weak economy, those conditions don't exist, he added.
Plus, it costs money to relocate and many prospective tenants are facing tight budgets, Mudd observed.
"A lot of people don't want to make a decision now," Mudd said. "Unless there is a real definite need to relocate, a lot of tenants are renewing (leases) on a short-term basis."
When the tower is complete, One Central Park East will be an "iconic" addition to the Phoenix skyline, Conlin said.
The building will be covered with treated glass panels that block desert heat but aren't as mirror-like as nearby Chase Tower, he said.
The building's corners bend inward and the middle of the building will have a strip of special material that changes colors in sunlight. The parking levels are covered with perforated metal sheets and at night, those floors will cast a white glow, Conlin said.
Early next spring, construction crews will start on a separate parking structure on the northern side of the property, which is bounded by Central Avenue, Van Buren, First and Polk streets. It will add up to 750 parking spaces to the 580 spaces on the lower floor for the office building, Conlin said.
The first 10floors are complete - one floor of retail and nine levels of parking. Crews are now building 16 floors of office space. Passersby will see the building get roughly one floor taller per week, said Tom Dobson, senior manager at Holder Construction Co.
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