Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson, LLC

“The West is America’s new heartland, and it is increasingly a dominant region of population growth and political influence,” says economist and corporate relocation expert Dr. Ronald R. Pollina in the just-released Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011: The Rise of the West.

In the annual study of job retention and creation by the 50 states and the federal government, Dr. Pollina, author of the recent book entitled Selling Out a Superpower, emphasizes that the “West is not only a leader in population growth but has also become the pro-business leader, thus showing the greatest potential for job growth.”

But Virginia—the brightest star on the American Flag—is the ultimate model for the rest of the country. Brent Pollina, Vice President of Park Ridge, Illinois-based ITRA/Pollina Corporate Real Estate and author of the study, names Virginia as “America’s most pro-business state” for the third consecutive year, winning yet again by the largest margin in the study’s history.

“Virginia can certainly be emulated by other states, which should view Virginia’s economic policies as a coloring book,” says Brent Pollina. “All they need to do is stay between the lines of the coloring book, and they, too, can create a powerful pro-business environment.”

This year’s Most Improved State, North Dakota, climbed from 18th to 3rd place in only three years, and it’s one of seven powerhouse Western states in the Top 10. Unfortunately for the region, California ranked dead last for the eighth consecutive year.

The Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011 are: 1) Virginia 2) Utah 3) North Dakota 4) Wyoming 5) Nebraska 6) Kansas 7) South Dakota (8) Missouri 9) South Carolina and 10) Indiana. The study, considered the most comprehensive, unbiased and unvarnished by the economic development industry, is the “Gold Standard” for evaluating and ranking states based on 32 factors controlled by state government, including taxes, human resources, education, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers compensation laws, economic incentive programs and state economic development efforts.

Two new factors—state budget deficit and state property tax index—along with a comprehensive State Report Card have been added to this year’s study.

ITRA/Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc.  is an affiliate of ITRA Global  which exclusively represents corporate tenants and buyers of Commercial Real Estate in over 85 markets worldwide.  ITRA firms do not work for landlords or real estate management companies, eliminating the potential conflict that exists with traditional brokers. 

For more information about the Pollina Top 10  Pro-Business Study contact FWM Communications; fmartin@brandandimage.net; 773-462-4144.

Further information about ITRA/Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. visit the company website at www.pollina.com or by calling (847) 685-9000.

Liquid Metal Battery Corp. has leased 10,000 Sf , signing a long-term lease at Blackstone Square, a four-building complex in the city’s CambridgePort district. ITRA/The Stevens Group provided tenant advisory services to LMBC in the transaction.

Blackstone Square

Founded in 2010 by MIT researchers Donald Sadoway, David Bradwell and Dr. Luis Ortiz, the energy sector firm gained quick notoriety thanks to a personal investment from Bill Gates. “They’ll be very happy there,” principal Debra Stevens portends of her client’s future home after conducting an extensive space search that began shortly after the firm was launched. “It was a challenge,” relays Stevens, a tenant representation specialist who worked closely with Ortiz, the firm’s president, in mulling alternatives. Stevens explains LMBC wanted a ground floor opportunity due to weight issues of its equipment, and also needed a structure possessing enhanced power capabilities.

With Blackstone Square able to accommodate the exacting requirements, fit out of the space is now underway in advance of the firm’s upcoming occupancy. Stevens declined to discuss financial details of the commitment by LMBC, but says the landlord “did what they needed to do” in beating out other suitors keen to land the promising company that has already received backing from the US Department of Energy on top of the boost from Microsoft’s famous founder. The technologies were invented in Sadoway’s MIT laboratory, with the founders of LMBC securing the patent rights in advance of launching their platform.

ITRA/The Stevens Group is a Boston based real estate advisory firm providing transactional representation, brokerage and consulting services exclusively for corporate tenants and occupiers of commercial real estate. As the Boston regional affiliate of ITRA Global, an organization of real estate professionals devoted to tenant and buyer representation worldwide, The Stevens Group offers principal-level services to corporate clients in more than 90 markets around the world.

Liquid Metal Battery Corp. has leased 10,000 Sf , signing a long-term lease at Blackstone Square, a four-building complex in the city’s CambridgePort district. ITRA/The Stevens Group provided tenant advisory services to LMBC in the transaction. Blackstone Square

Founded in 2010 by MIT researchers Donald Sadoway, David Bradwell and Dr. Luis Ortiz, the energy sector firm gained quick notoriety thanks to a personal investment from Bill Gates. “They’ll be very happy there,” principal Debra Stevens portends of her client’s future home after conducting an extensive space search that began shortly after the firm was launched. “It was a challenge,” relays Stevens, a tenant representation specialist who worked closely with Ortiz, the firm’s president, in mulling alternatives. Stevens explains LMBC wanted a ground floor opportunity due to weight issues of its equipment, and also needed a structure possessing enhanced power capabilities. (more...)

Debra Stracke Anderson CCIM, SIOR, President of Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA, announced that the company represented Toole Design Group, a valued client of ITRA/The Stevens Group, Boston, MA, in leasing 7,918 square feet of office space located at The Plaza At Station Square, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD. The Plaza at Station Square is a 136,000 square foot Class A office building developed and owned by Moore & Associates, which also assembled the land that is now home to Discovery Communications’ 600,000-square-foot headquarters and Silver Spring’s Town Center, a vibrant retail and entertainment corridor. Ms. Anderson represented the Tenant in the transaction and the Landlord was represented in-house by Ed Baca-Asher.

About Toole Design Group

Toole Design Group is a planning and design firm headquartered in the Washington-Baltimore region with extensive experience throughout the United States. Projects include transportation master planning, traffic calming, pedestrian and bicycle research and facility design, rail-trail planning and design, transit accessibility, safe routes to school planning, and a variety of other related areas. The company is particularly skilled in retrofitting transportation systems to make walking, bicycling and transit use safer and more convenient modes of transportation. More information about the firm is available at www.tooledesign.com or by calling +1 (301) 927-1900. 

About Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA

Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA, provides transactional representation, brokerage and consulting services exclusively for corporate tenants and buyers of properties in the District of Columbia and its suburbs, in addition to representing clients on an international basis. As the Washington, D.C. affiliate for ITRA Global,  Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA provides principal-level services for corporate clients in more than 90 U.S. and overseas markets. Further information about Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA is available at www.sloanstreetadvisors.com or by calling +1 (703) 758-7479.

Debra Stracke Anderson CCIM, SIOR, President of Sloan Street Advisors / ITRA, announced that the company represented Toole Design Group, a valued client of ITRA/The Stevens Group, Boston, MA, in leasing 7,918 square feet of office space located at The Plaza At Station Square, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD. The Plaza at Station Square is a 136,000 square foot Class A office building developed and owned by Moore & Associates, which also assembled the land that is now home to Discovery Communications’ 600,000-square-foot headquarters and Silver Spring’s Town Center, a vibrant retail and entertainment corridor. Ms. Anderson represented the Tenant in the transaction and the Landlord was represented in-house by Ed Baca-Asher. (more...)