Kilroy Realty (KRC) Leases 333 Dexter Project In Seattle

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE:KRC) recently announced that it has inked a long-term lease with a Fortune 50 publicly-traded company for 100% of 333 Dexter — a 635,000-square-foot development project situated in Seattle’s South Lake Union submarket. Per a Bloomberg article, the tenant is iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) .

The 333 Dexter project, comprising two 12-story towers, is Kilroy’s first ground-up development in Seattle. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2019. Further, the strategic location of the property has likely attracted the tenant to lease its office space in the facility.

Specifically, 333 Dexter is bounded by Dexter Avenue and Highway 99/Aurora Avenue, and is less than 500 yards from the iconic Space Needle. Moreover, it has convenient access to important regional transportation routes, including the recently-opened SR-99. Further, close proximity to technology and life-science innovators like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and UW Medicine is another favorable factor.

With flexibility to customize and scale the space, this property offers modern technology companies the innovative space needed to stay competitive.

Importantly, the lease adds to the active leasing volume Kilroy has witnessed, year to date, totaling more than 1.7 million square feet. With this transaction, office space at the company’s five development projects is now around 60% leased. Excluding the two life-science projects which commenced in the March-end quarter, the figure comes to nearly 90%.

The shrinking availability of space and active lease executions underline companies’ inclination to cluster and expand in innovative centers with proximity to transportation and amenities. Further, the continued high demand for office space is backed by a decent economy and favorable job-market environment. This is because as the economy revives, business grows and therefore, corporate sectors seek expansion, renting more space to accommodate the increased workforce. This is providing significant impetus to office landlords like Kilroy and Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) .

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 20.6% over the past six months, as compared with the industry’s rally of 21.4%.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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