Kaye Scholer Signs for 55,000 SF in East End

WASHINGTON, DC-New York City-based Kaye Scholer LLP has secured a total of 55,000 sf of office space in the East End for its Washington office. The firm had occupied some 45,000 sf of space in the McPherson Building at 901 15th St. NW.

When space became available after another tenant’s subleases expired, the firm signed a new 15-year lease, which will provide it with three entirely new floors of space. Kaye Scholer will reconfigure these floors over the next six months or so, at a total budget of roughly $100 per sf, CB Richard Ellis’ Patrick Marr, who represented the firm in the transaction, tells GlobeSt.com. The building owner, ING Clarion, represented itself.

The property at 901 15th St. NW straddles the city’s East End and Central Business District, both of which are reaping the benefits of high rents and relatively low vacancy rates. Asking rates in this environment have reached as high as $75 per sf for trophy quality space. New buildings can be anywhere from $65 on up; renovated class A buildings–a category in which the McPherson Building falls–can be in the mid to high 50s per sf.