PORTSMOUTH — Just 18 months ago, the office park on Commerce Way was only 48 percent occupied.

But a recent rebranding and reinvestment by the property owners has breathed new life into the space.

Portsmouth Office Park was unveiled recently, with the announcement by Cushman & Wakefield, the park's new leasing agent, that the office park is now 80 percent occupied.

The nine-building park covers about a half-million square feet, with additional undeveloped land that represents an opportunity to build another three-story building, said Tom Farrelly, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield.

“The park had been somewhat overshadowed by Pease and all the success that Pease had undergone,” Farrelly said.

Tom said the Portsmouth Office Park was built in the 1980s, behind the Woodbury Avenue Market Basket and near Exit 7 to I-95. He said some of the buildings are “older vintage” and needed some reinvestment.

“That need came at a time when the economy had softened significantly and they lost some of their momentum to Pease (International Tradeport),” Farrelly said. “Pease was center stage for awhile, but in the new reality, people are looking for more of a value play, so a lot of people feel like when they are out at Pease, they are really far away from everything.”

Portsmouth Office Park is less than two miles from downtown Portsmouth and in walking distance of several restaurants and shops on Woodbury Avenue.

The property owners have also negotiated discount health club memberships for office park tenants at the nearby Spinnaker Point Recreation Center and have added a new on-site cafe as well.

An added incentive for businesses to relocate to Portsmouth Office Park is the creation of an Economic Revitalization Zone in the area.

Economic Revitalization Zones allow businesses to gain tax credits against their business profit tax based on hiring and/or capital investment.

Portsmouth City Manager John Bohenko said the ability to provide businesses like the Portsmouth Office Park with the ERZ helps them to market their property.

He said the city is also working with the property owners on a “betterment district” in the area, which will allow the owners to improve Commerce Way, which is not a public road.

“It would be improved and become a public way and the improvements on that property would be made by the city and the property owners would pay for those improvements,” Bohenko said.

In addition, major improvements are happening to the nearby Exit 7 interchange connecting Woodbury Avenue to I-95, as well as upgrades to Market Street as part of the city's capital improvement plan, Bohenko said.

“With the new gateway corridor and period lighting and enhancing the connectivity between that area of Market (Street) and Woodbury, Portsmouth Office Park offers a very unique combination of suburban office space that is really close to downtown, close to I-95, and offers the amenities Pease doesn't have,” Farrelly said.

Bohenko said Pease remains an economic engine of the Seacoast, the region and the state, but it is important to assist other spaces, like Portsmouth Office Park, in marketing themselves better to businesses.

gmacalaster@newstote.com