Charlotte Business Journal
By Elise Franco
October 17, 2024
Commercial printing company The Imagine Group is doubling down on Charlotte following a long-term lease renewal and expansion at Innovation Park.
The Minnesota-based company, already Innovation Park’s largest tenant, recently signed a 10-year lease renewal at the University City development. It has operated at the development since 2011. The Imagine Group will soon occupy a total of 267,000 square feet after a 28,500-square-foot expansion.
Abbey Rowsey, Accesso managing director, portfolio management, said the company decided to stay for the long term and expand because it’s been successful in the current location.
“They have operations in several different cities, but this location works well for them,” she said. “The expansion has to do with needing to add more equipment and storage areas and that sort of thing to accommodate more business from existing clients.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Fermin De Oca, Jessica Brown, David Dorsch and Jordan Williams represented Innovation Park. JLL‘s Alex Ach and Brian Ginkel represented Imagine in the transaction.
Rowsey said inking the renewal of such a large anchor tenant is significant for the property, especially given current challenges in commercial real estate. Innovation Park is about 65% occupied.
“As a former IMB facility, (Innovation Park) has a large amount of power on site, and their machinery pulls a significant amount of power, so the park is able to provide what they need,” she said. “Their lease stabilizes the project, so in uncertain times for commercial real estate, having an anchor tenant commit long term is as good as it gets.”
Accesso and Partners Group acquired Innovation Park in 2019 for $270 million. The development includes 1.8 million square feet of office and light industrial space across its 12 facilities. The park spans more than 200 acres and was initially built in the 1980s for IBM. The park’s tenant roster includes Allstate, Wells Fargo, Chime Solutions, Barrday Inc. and TTI Floor Care North America.
The company also has locations in Burbank, California; Minneapolis; and Greyslake, Illinois.