Choyce Peterson Negotiates a 24,000 Square Foot Headquarters Lease for Cara Therapeutics, Inc. in Stamford, CT

Norwalk, CT– July 6, 2016 – Choyce Peterson, Inc.(www.choycepeterson.com),a commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm specializing in tenant representation, announced today that it has successfully concluded a 24,000 square foot office lease on behalf of Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cara”) (www.caratherapeutics.com) for its headquarters to relocate to 107 Elm Street in Stamford, CT.  John Hannigan, Principal, and Adam Cognetta, Vice President, of Choyce Peterson represented Cara, who moved to the new space in May from One Parrot Drive in Shelton,CT. The landlord, RFR Realty LLC, was represented in-house in the transaction by Margaret Carlson, Portfolio Manager, Steve Lash, Leasing Director and Ed Wissell, Property Manager/Construction.

Publically traded since 2014, Cara,a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of pain therapeutics, appointed Choyce Peterson as its exclusive tenant representative to handle the search for a new headquarters and the negotiation of the financial and business terms of a new lease.

Hannigan and Cognetta consulted with Cara on their initial space needs and the timing of their forecasted growth, and were tasked with identifying properties that contained a high-quality amenity package with easy access to I-95 and the Stamford Train Station.Armed with this information,they conducted tours of available space in the Stamford market. Choyce Peterson then commenced proposal negotiations with several landlords of the viable alternatives. The end result of this process was that Choyce Peterson negotiated very favorable financial and business terms for Cara’s relocation to 107 Elm Street that included:

·    Creatively structuring a rent schedule that was commensurate with Cara’s future growth plans.

In effect, this synthesized a “pay as you grow” scenario, whereby Cara will only pay for certain increments of space being used within set time parameters.

·    A complete build out of the new space, funded and provided by the landlord based on Cara’s exact layout and specifications,including existing high-end furniture and fixtures at no additional cost.

·    On-boarding an architect to represent Cara in the creation of test-fit and final floor plans and construction documents.

While overlooking Long Island Sound from his ninth floor office,Josef Schoell, CFO of Cara stated,“John and Adam’s experience became quite evident from the start of this process as they questioned us about the specifics of our current and future space needs, guided us to articulate the type of culture and setting we envisioned for our future headquarters, and then led the search and deal term negotiations.As a result of their expertise in exclusively representing the tenant side of office leasing transactions and superior negotiation skills, we were able to conclude a very favorable transaction that complements Cara’s mission and culture,and future growth plans. We are deeply satisfied with our Choyce Peterson experience.”

The amenity package at 107 Elm Street, Building 4 of Stamford Plaza, includes an on-site cafeteria,conference facility,fitness center, a sundries shop, a dry cleaner, car wash and detailing service, and a private shuttle to the Stamford Train Station.

About Cara Therapeutics, Inc.

Cara Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing new chemical entities designed to alleviate pain and pruritus by selectively targeting kappa opioid receptors.Cara is developing a novel and proprietary class of product candidates that target the body's peripheral nervous system and have demonstrated initial efficacyin patients with moderate-to-severe pain without inducing many of the undesirable side effects typically associated with currently available pain therapeutics.

About Choyce Peterson,Inc.

Choyce Peterson, Inc.,a commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm which specializes in tenant representation, was founded in 1997 and has offices in Norwalk, CT and RyeBrook, NY.  For companies headquartered in Fairfield and Westchester counties, Choyce Peterson has negotiated millions of square feet of transactions in 42 states and Canada. The Choyce Peterson process delivers comprehensive and creative real estate solutions to ensure clients derive maximum value from their real estate decisions.