Fired Up Sublease

Challenge

ECR was hired by Fired Up, Inc. in April of 2013 to serve as its commercial real estate brokerage firm to provide marketing and subleasing services. Fired up was in the early stages of a multi-year lease commitment containing 14,293 RSF of Class A office space. At the time, Fired Up had employees scattered in different buildings across the area and they were only utilizing about half of their space at The Hill Country Galleria. Their goal was to consolidate employees back under one roof in a building already owned by Fired Up’s parent company. Fired Up needed to hire an aggressive brokerage team who could bring fresh ideas, be responsive, and dedicate the time and focus required to sublease their space in an short period of time. Also, Fired Up wanted to find a subtenant who would need the entire space as dividing the space wasn’t an option. In addition to the challenge of subleasing a large block of space in a relatively small submarket, an adjacent 60,000 SF speculative Class A building was being delivered at that time adding direct competition.

Strategy

ECR developed a marketing and leasing strategy targeting single-users with solid credit for the remaining term. The strategy consisted of the following:

1. Utilized ECR’s in-house marketing resources to create industry leading marketing materials for the property with an emphasis on the above-standard amenities of both the space itself and its surrounding retail synergy
2. Created and practiced a professional property tour through the project boasting the above-standard amenities of the property
3. Strategically executed a direct call, email, and internet marketing campaign targeted towards the brokerage community as well as directly to tenant prospects who were located in the same project and submarket
4. Followed up with all leads and opportunities consistently and effectively

Results

Through our strategy and effort, ECR received multiple proposals from prospects interested in subleasing the entire office in as-is condition and with a quick commencement. ECR executed an extensive market and financial analysis and was able to leverage the deals against one another to seek out the best economics for our client. ECR successfully negotiated a deal with a rent structure exceeding the original terms putting additional profits in Fired Up’s pocket. In addition, ECR was able to solve for a large amount of furniture not needed by Fired Up by selling it to the subtenant. By creating a thoughtful strategy with Fired Up and through ECR’s hard work and proactive subleasing efforts, ECR assisted Fired Up with a savings of more than $750,000.