In one of the largest lease transactions signed this year in Palm Beach County, Newsmax Media will expand its South Florida operations by leasing additional office space in the fully redesigned 750@Park building at 750 Park of Commerce Drive in Boca Raton.
Newsmax signed a long-term lease for 50,105 square feet of the 137,000-square-foot building along Congress Avenue, just north of Yamato Road, at the entrance of the Arvida Park of Commerce.
The company, headquartered in West Palm Beach with additional offices in Boca Raton, New York and Washington, DC, will use the new space for expansion of its online television channel and additional administrative offices.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The lease deal comes as the building enters the final stage of an extensive $6 million renovation and redesign.
The renovations encompass a new reinforced exterior envelope, enlarged window lines with hurricane impact windows and full building back-up generator. Inside, a contemporary lobby will redefine the main atrium with multiple curtain-wall water fountains, glass-and-steel dual staircase with floating bridge way and a high-performance Kalwall translucent skylight system, allowing a natural light setting.
The building’s exterior will be set off by a stainless steel and glass portico, rimmed in high-design Alucobond, a slick metallic composite system. Outside enhancements also include a new 530-space parking lot wrapped in a fully refreshed tropical landscape setting.
Darcie Lunsford and Tom Hotz, both senior vice presidents, of Butters Realty & Management represented the landlord, 750 Park of Commerce Drive, LLC, an organization controlled by a private investment group with holdings and offices in Miami and other major metropolitans in the United States and Canada.
Building owners have invested heavily since acquiring the property, a former Office Depot operations center, in 2011 with the goal to reposition the two-story building into a Class A building, catering to larger floor-plate corporate users.
“We saw an opportunity with this project to create a modern yet elegant corporate venue, designed to attract companies seeking a well-thought-out, and well-located Class A building in Boca Raton,” said Jennifer Kriz, an executive officer of 750 Park of Commerce Drive, LLC. “The details you will find in this project are a reflection of our corporate mission to create first-class addresses, whether it’s for an esteemed corporation such as Newsmax or high-end residences on the Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles.”
Newsmax’s expansion serves not only as true positive net absorption of office space in the Boca Raton market, but also as an economic injection.
“Signing a high-profile, national organization like Newsmax as our anchor tenant is a boon for both for the building and the Boca Raton market,” Lunsford said. “The repositioning strategy for 750@Park was to create a true best-in-class corporate venue that was more competitively priced than any comparable property in the market. The owners did that by buying a building at the right price and then not being afraid to invest in it. The building is unrecognizable from the way it appeared in 2011 and the transformation is astonishing.”
Newsmax executives said the redesigned 750@Park provides the right real estate platform for their long-term corporate strategy.
“We are impressed by the 750 building and its environs, and believe the location will make a positive impact on Newsmax’s growth for years to come,” Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media, said.
Newsmax Media, founded in 1998, is one of the nation’s leading online news organizations, best known for its websiteNewsmax.com. With more than 12 million unique monthly visitors, Comscore has ranked Newsmax number one in web traffic for its news/politics category.
A multimedia publisher, the company also produces websites and newsletters for health and financial readers.
Butters Construction & Development is handling the shell and lobby renovations for the landlord as well as $1.5 million in tenant-specific interior renovations for Newsmax. Project architects are Dutra Architect of Toronto and Slattery & Associates of Boca Raton.
“The scope of work and the quality of materials being used to redesign 750@Park are unparalleled in the marketplace,” said Malcolm Butters, president of Butters Construction & Development. “The renovations go well beyond aesthetics and into to the core of how the building functions and its structural integrity.”