Tishman Speyer Signs 575,000 Square Foot Office Lease in Paris with French Government

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Tishman Speyer announced this week they have signed a massive office  lease agreement with the French Government that totals 575,000 square feet (53,000 square meters) at the Tour Esplanade tower in Paris.
 
The office lease enables French authorities to consolidate space from five locations by moving the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Ecology into the Tishman Speyer property.
 
The Ministries will fully occupy Tour Esplanade, moving in by mid-2014 after the current tenant vacates and after Tishman Speyer renovates and customizes the building.  Under the lease agreement, the government will have a purchase option as well.
 
Tour Esplanade is a 36-story office tower strategically located in La Defense, Europe's largest business district, between the CNIT exhibition center and the Grande Arche near the main pedestrian avenue.  The district is served by various excellent transportation routes.  The building, which was built in 1990 and subsequently refurbished, features first-class amenities and in 2011 was awarded one of France's highest HQE (green building) ratings.
 
"We are pleased that the French government has chosen this property to meet the office space needs of the Housing and Ecology Ministries," commented Tishman Speyer Senior Managing Director Michael P. M. Spies. "This closely follows the large lease signed with the Ministry of Interior at our Lumiere property, which, coincidently, was the largest signed in the Paris region in 2011.  Our Paris portfolio is geographically well positioned and we strive to provide superior tenant service and achieve the highest possible sustainability standards."
 
The transaction is the largest office lease in Paris in the past year and the largest in the La Defense district since 2008.
 
Tishman Speyer is one of the leading developers, owners, operators, and asset managers of top-tier real estate assets worldwide. As of June 30, 2012, the firm has acquired, developed and/or managed a portfolio of over 123 million sq. ft. and more than 94,000 residential units with a total value of over USD $60.3 billion since its founding in 1978.  Signature assets include New York's Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Center, Sao Paulo's Torre Norte, Ventura Corporate Towers in Rio de Janeiro, and the TaunusTurm project now under construction in Frankfurt.  Tishman Speyer also has projects at different stages of development currently in Brasília, Chengdu, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, São Paolo, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tianjin.