Triangle Business Journal
By Kayli Thompson
Jul 1, 2025
- Accesso’s $6.5 million renovations boosted office leasing in Cary.
- Kimley-Horn leased 39,000 square feet for its fourth Triangle office.
- Renovations included lobby, fitness center, and tenant lounge improvements.
Renovations to an office building in Cary have been the driving factor in leasing activity — and it’s not alone.
Accesso, a Florida-based commercial real estate firm, completed $6.5 million in renovations to its office building off Weston Parkway. Since then, the firm has signed more than 60,000 square feet of office leases to bring the 212,000-square-foot building’s occupancy rate to about 75 percent, according to LoopNet.
“Our leasing activity has increased a ton since kicking off the renovations,” said Alex Romero, director of investments for Accesso.
“We think the building is well positioned. It is suburban, but Cary is a highly desirable location. As the Class A buildings that were just delivered in North Hills and Downtown Raleigh fill up, we expect overflow to suburban Class A buildings like this,” he said.
It’s not the only office building boosting leasing activity through property improvements. An office building in southwest Durham also saw an increase in tenants, and so did a prominent tower downtown.
Accesso renovated the lobby, fitness center, corridors and some restrooms in Weston I. It also added a tenant lounge on the first floor that has a connecting outdoor space with pergolas, seating and a grill.
The most recent lease was engineering firm Kimley-Horn, which will occupy the entire fifth floor — 39,000 square feet. The firm will occupy the space starting in spring 2026 after construction is complete on the upfit.
This will be Kimley-Horn’s fourth office in the Triangle as the firm keeps growing. Regional President Chris Leverett said it has significantly outgrown its Downtown Raleigh office — 80 of the 450 employees at the Raleigh location will relocate to the Cary office.
The new Cary office will have room for 120 staffers, so the firm will look to bring in new hires to fill the remaining 40 seats.
This opens up more space in the Downton Raleigh office where the firm continues to hire. Leverett said the company plans to open more offices across the Triangle as it grows.
“We’re excited about the Cary location and being back in Cary, it’s been several years since we’ve had an office there. We intend to have multiple offices across the Triangle … we think that’s good for our people as it relates to commute times, good for our business because it allows us to recruit from a larger talent pool and we think it’s good for our clients,” Leverett said.
“We work on the built environment. We think it’s good to be closer to where that work is happening and where our clients are as well.”