DENVER, January 29, 2013 – Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC announced today that Johns Manville renewed its lease to remain the building anchor and namesake for Johns Manville Plaza in Downtown Denver. The deal for 118,865 square feet keeps Johns Manville’s world headquarters in Downtown Denver for at least another 12 years. The Johns Manville deal helps boost Downtown Denver’s claim as the hub of the region. Downtown Denver has approximately 112,000 employees and 65,000 residents live in Denver City Center neighborhoods, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership.
“The decision of Johns Manville to continue to host their world headquarters in Downtown Denver is very significant as it represents the retention of approximately 400 jobs,” said Tami Door, President and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “As with a growing number of companies, Johns Manville recognizes the benefits of having their headquarters in Downtown Denver. They are an important member of the Downtown business community and their continued tenure is incredibly impactful and positive for our city center.”
Johns Manville conducted a thorough evaluation of economics, employee and business logistics, and explored a number of options before deciding to remain at Johns Manville Plaza, according to president and CEO Mary Rhinehart. “There were several excellent choices in the Denver metro area where we could conduct our headquarters operations,” said Rhinehart. “However, at the end of the day, our current location provided the greatest benefit across all of the factors we considered.
“We are excited to keep our world headquarters in Downtown Denver,” Rhinehart added. “The city of Denver, the Downtown Denver Partnership and Crescent Real Estate worked cooperatively to help us remain an anchor company in Downtown Denver.” In addition to its downtown location, Johns Manville has a 325,000 square-foot technical center southwest of Denver. The technical center location will remain in place.
“I want to thank Johns Manville for renewing their commitment to downtown and thank the Downtown Denver Partnership for working with the city to keep the heartbeat of our local economy strong,” Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “The city is focused on retaining businesses right here in Denver by working with them to stay and prosper. These efforts have allowed us to grow or retain over 1,600 jobs and deliver a great city to live, work, play and stay.”
Johns Manville Plaza, as part of Crescent’s Denver City Center, is in the heart of the 17th Street Financial District and an expanding Downtown, and is convenient to other areas of metro Denver. Johns Manville Plaza is on the Denver Light Rail line with stops both in front and behind the 29-story Class A office building. There also is ample vehicle access and two adjacent parking garages for customers driving to the office, retail, restaurant, entertainment and lodging venues available at Crescent’s Denver City Center properties.
“Keeping a global manufacturing leader like Johns Manville in our building enhances the prestigious brand of Crescent Real Estate’s Denver City Center properties,” said John Goff, Chairman and CEO of Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC. “Contributing to the attraction of Johns Manville Plaza is the convenience of being located in the heart of Downtown Denver and the Financial District, along with vibrant retail, entertainment and transportation options.”
In addition to Johns Manville Plaza, the properties at Denver City Center include 707 17th Street and the Marriott Denver City Center. The Marriott Denver City Center occupies the first 20 floors of 707 17th Street. The buildings share Denver’s largest outdoor plaza complete with trees, flowers and outdoor sitting areas. The plaza and retail area will undergo a renovation this spring to provide an additional 12,000 square feet of new retail, restaurant and entertainment options.
At the end of 2012, Crescent announced nearly 100,000 square feet of new leases in its Denver City Center Class A office buildings. Crescent also renewed 51,000 square feet of leases during 2012 in its Denver City Center properties. “Denver City Center is well-known as a fashionable location and leasing activity is strong. Our customers are looking forward to upcoming renovations, and the overall Downtown Denver market appears to have good momentum,” said Bruce M. Basham, vice president of leasing for Crescent.
Basham added that the large 23,500 square-foot floor plates provide him large office spaces and flexibility in working with companies to design efficient office space for leases. Additionally, Basham says the Denver City Center properties are attractive to companies because the transportation options are the best in town. The 17th Street office buildings are on the Denver Light Rail line and have easy access to parking garages adjacent to the office buildings, retail shops and restaurants.
Basham represented the owner MS Crescent Two SPV, LLC in the lease transactions. Johns Manville was represented by Sam Depizzol and Greg Holm of CBRE.
Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building insulation, commercial roofing, roof insulation, as well as fibers and nonwovens for commercial, industrial and residential applications. JM serves markets that include aerospace, automotive and transportation, air handling, appliance, HVAC, pipe and equipment, filtration, waterproofing, building, flooring, interiors and wind energy. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. JM employs approximately 7,000 people and operates 45 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. Additional information can be found at www.jm.com.
ABOUT JOHNS MANVILLE PLAZA
Johns Manville Plaza is a 29-story, 675,400 square-foot Class A office building located in Downtown Denver’s newly-termed Denver City Center in the heart of the Central Business District and 17th Street Financial District. Denver City Center also is home to the 707 17th Street building, the Marriott Denver City Center and a common area plaza with outdoor seating. The prestigious address is world headquarters of Johns Manville and Denver home for AECOM engineering, Baker Hughes, Suncor Energy and others. Johns Manville Plaza is easily accessible via Denver’s light rail system with stops both in front and behind the building. The Plaza area of Johns Manville Plaza is Downtown Denver’s largest and most beautiful plaza, with trees, flowers, and outdoor seating.
ABOUT CRESCENT
Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a fully-integrated real estate company owned by Barclays Capital and Goff Capital. Through its subsidiaries, Crescent owns or manages a portfolio of 25 premier office buildings totaling over 9.2 million square feet located in select markets across the United States with major concentrations in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Las Vegas. Crescent also holds investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, Vail Valley, and Lake Tahoe; a luxury hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas; and the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch®. For more information, visit Crescent’s Web site at www.crescent.com.
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