CoStar Group, the global leader in real estate information, analytics, news and online marketplaces, has signed for a French headquarters in Paris.
The company will be the sole occupier of the Unofi-owned, 1,915-square-metre (20,162-square-foot) 81, rue Taitbout / 40, rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It will house all of CoStar’s Paris-based employees, including those from commercial property news publisher Business Immo, BureauxLocaux and Grecam, and allow for future growth.
Formerly the headquarters of the consultancy LSN (food safety group), the Haussmann-style building was repurposed by the architectural firm Lobjoy-Bouvier-Boisseau, by Demathieu Bard & Associés and Demathieu & Bard Construction. It has been rented under a 3/6/9 lease at an average rent of €725 per square metres per year.
A 3/6/9 commercial lease is the most common for renting offices in France and is for a minimum of nine years but tacitly renewable every three years.
Azeo Real Estate advised CoStar on the search and the negotiation of the lease, while JLL advised the owner, the Unofi Group. Fairway and Theops also assisted Unofi.
"France is an important expansion market for CoStar and we are delighted to be able to consolidate all our Paris-based employees into one great office building in the 9th arrondissement,” said CoStar CEO, President and Founder Andrew Florance.
"The restructuring of the rue Taitbout building is very representative of the expertise of the Unofi Group's real estate teams and corresponds perfectly with the strategy of the insurance company that owns it. We are delighted that CoStar Group has chosen us for its French operations," said Florence Dourdet, associate managing director, Unofi.