Molina Healthcare in Albuquerque had several office buildings housing various functions of their business. With the expiration of their office lease in July 2015 Molina Heatlhcare decided to consolidate all of its operations into a single space. They begin looking for a 150,000 square foot office building that could help them increase efficiency and decrease costs.

Challenge

Molina’s timeframe and size requirements presented a challenge in the Albuquerque market. There were few spaces with 150,000 SF in vacancy and the spaces available were outdated and in need of extensive remodeling. In addition, since their existing leases were nearing expiration a build to suit could not meet their timelines.

400 Tijeras, a 420,589 square foot, 7 story building in downtown Albuquerque was identified as a viable option for Molina Healthcare. This iconic downtown multi-tenant office building is among the largest in the city and features expansive 55,000 square-foot floor plates. The building was built in 1980 and had been owned and occupied by Centuylink since its development. During lease negotiations Centurylink expressed a preference to sell the building rather than be a landlord. This created a potential hurdle in meeting Molina’s timeframe for consolidation. In addition, 400 Tijeras had only 52 parking spaces on site for over 400,000 square feet of office space. Molina’s parking needs far exceeded the available parking, therefore alternative parking needed to be identified

Solutions

The REA | Real Estate Advisors assisted Molina in identifying a purchaser for the property who could move quickly through due diligence, negotiations and closing. Omninet Tijeras, LLC was quickly identified as the best purchaser for the property and agreed to work simultaneously on the sale and lease negotiations for both Centurylink (134,000 SF) and Molina Healthcare (150,000 SF). The negotiations occurred during a six-month period and ended with successfully closing the sale and leasing the property within the necessary timeframe.

This relocation to Downtown would not have happened except the REA team knew a large tenant was vacating their building in downtown Albuquerque and therefore vacating large parking areas near 400 Tijeras. Through introduction by REA, Molina and Omninet were able to secure the necessary parking for Molina to move forward with their lease.