ECR was hired by Capitol Commercial Investments (CCI) in January of 2012 to help completely reposition the office portion (100,000 SF) of 800 Brazos in the marketplace.
At the time of CCI’s acquisition and hiring ECR, only about 19% of the office space was occupied and the spaces were in very challenging conditions.
The unoccupied portions of the building had been vacant for well over a decade and the property had fallen completely off the radar of the marketplace.
The ownership needed immediate leasing activity and a firm that could aggressively and effectively market the property and help draw excitement around the repositioning plans.
Strategy
ECR developed an aggressive marketing and leasing strategy targeted towards re-introducing 800 Brazos to the marketplace and showcasing the coming improvements. The strategy consisted of the following:
Utilized ECR’s in-house marketing resources to design creative marketing materials that were unique to the industry for the property, including custom marketing videos and a new brand for the property of 800 Brazos. The past brand was Brazos Place as this is a mixed-use property; however, ECR created a new brand for the office portion along to have its own and new identity.
Worked with the ownership to help design remodel plans for all of the spaces. These plans ranged from demo plans to open up the larger spaces to creative spec-suite plans for the spaces below 4,000 RSF.
Worked with the ownership to solidify and bring to market a strong amenity package for the building, including: common break room, secure bicycle parking, a break-out area with a shuffle board table, and showers/lockers.
Created and practiced a professional property tour through the project boasting the new offering and hosted the best tour experience possible through the pre-construction and construction phase.
Hosted private lunches with active office leasing brokers to tour the property and planned improvements.
Strategically executed a direct call, email, and internet marketing campaign targeted towards the brokerage community as well as directly to tenant prospects.
Provided a direct mail campaign to brokers and tenants to educate on the new 800 Brazos.
Followed up with all leads and opportunities consistently, aggressively and effectively.
Proactively met with existing tenants to help expand and address renewals early on and to
aggressively get in front of new leasing for tenants that were unlikely to renew.
"We work harder than anyone else”...I have heard that quote from many brokers in the industry. ECR lives that quote out on a daily basis! Their dedication, determination and vision made them the perfect team for the repositioning of the creative offices at 800 Brazos. They did what many didn’t believe could be done. They are true partners and are always on my shortlist when I need the best broker.
Ken Crouse
Vault Real Estate Investments
Results
ECR immediately executed new leases at the building and within months was able to secure a high-profile technology company, Mass Relevance, as a lead tenant for a large block vacancy.
Upon executing the lease with Mass Relevance, ECR had negotiated and immediately presented the Rights of First Refusal for the remaining half of the floor (3 separate spaces) which forced Mass Relevance to exercise all 3 ROFRs to provide for much-needed expansion space.
By the end of 2013, ECR was able to lease all available spaces at 800 Brazos to 100% through approximately 19 transactions.
From the time of beginning to market the property to stabilization, ECR helped lead efforts to increase the lease rates by approximately 50%.
