Construction on SkySong 5 is just barely underway, but leasing activity for the building is heating up with a prominent national tenant signing on for an entire floor.
Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, has signed a 10-year lease on a 21,000-square-foot space in SkySong 5 — the entire second floor of the project, located adjacent to the new building’s planned signature outdoor event patio. The space will be home to about 90 Berkadia employees.
Berkadia is a leader in the commercial real estate industry, offering a robust suite of services to multifamily and commercial property clients.
“SkySong is a great fit for Berkadia and an ideal location for our company to locate as we grow and expand in Arizona,” said Brett Adams, Senior Vice President with Berkadia. “The spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship at SkySong is well aligned with the Berkadia approach, and we look forward to being a part of the new building at the property.”
Andrew Cheney and Craig Coppola of Lee & Associates represented SkySong in the transaction, and Geoffrey Kreiss and Andrew Medley from Jones LaSalle Lang represented Berkadia.
SkySong 5 will be six stories — the tallest on property yet — and will include a number of features that are new to the project. With the newest building, the total SkySong project will reach about 870,000 square feet of commercial building.
“We are very pleased to welcome Berkadia to SkySong 5 and help them create the kind of dynamic work environment that reflects their spirit of innovation,” said Sharon Harper, President & CEO of Plaza Companies, the master developer of the project. “Berkadia will have an exceptional footprint in SkySong 5 and will complement the focus on technology being created throughout the project.”
“This is a great step forward for SkySong and for SkySong 5 in particular,” said Don Couvillion, senior vice president of real estate at University Realty. “Berkadia will enjoy a signature space in the project with tremendous access to the exceptional new outdoor space. We are pleased to welcome them as an anchor tenant for SkySong 5 and an important part of SkySong moving forward.”
The design of SkySong 5 includes extensive outdoor work and meeting spaces as well as public art features, and continues the trend at the property of each new building having unique and distinctive features, including a large second-story outdoor patio and event space. The cost of the building and the accompanying parking structure that will be built will exceed $43 million.
“Berkadia is an important addition to the Skysong community and further expands the breadth of technology-driven companies located here,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise Development and chief research and innovation officer at ASU. “Arizona State University welcomes Berkadia to one of the most vibrant locations within our Innovation Zones portfolio.”
“As a leader in the commercial real estate industry, we are pleased that Berkadia chose to locate in Scottsdale and look forward to their success here,” said Scottsdale Mayor W.J. “Jim” Lane.
Located on the northwest corner of the iconic SkySong shade structure, SkySong 5 will be taller than the other commercial office buildings on the campus and slightly larger, at 151,318 square feet. Like the other buildings, it will be constructed to meet LEED certification standards for green building practices.
Plaza Companies is the master developer of SkySong, in partnership with ASU University Realty, Holualoa Companies and the City of Scottsdale. Butler Design Group is the architect for SkySong 5, and DPR is the general contractor for the building.
SkySong is a 42-acre mixed-use development designed to:
• Create an ecology of collaboration and innovation among high-profile technology enterprises and related researchers;
• Advance global business objectives of on-site enterprises;
• Raise Arizona’s profile as a global center of innovation through co-location of ASU’s strategic global partners; and
• Create a unique regional economic and social asset.
Companies located at SkySong enjoy a special relationship with Arizona State University, which has more than 90,000 students studying across four metropolitan Phoenix campuses, in Lake Havasu and online. ASU is one of the largest public universities in the nation, with the majority of its students attending its campus in Tempe, Arizona, less than three miles from SkySong.
In addition to locating its own innovative research units at the center, through ASU’s on-site operations, tenant companies have a single point of contact for introductions to researchers, faculty and programs to address their specific needs.
For more information on SkySong, visit www.skysong.com or www.facebook.com/skysongcenter.
