The SSO is a nonprofit organization that leases nearly half the space in the Hall of States and then provides the space--along with a wide array of office services--to 90 state-affiliated organizations. Negotiations between the SSO and the building's owner, the Marine Engineering Biology Association, began in 1999, in anticipation of a pending "significant" rent hike slated for 2002, according to Sherry Cushman, managing director with the Washington, DC office of Julien J. Studley Inc., which helped the SSO negotiate the deal.

SSO officials wanted to soften the pending rate bump because many of their tenants can't afford to pay much more for office space, according to Cushman. She said the lease extension is unusual because generally when tenants renegotiate an already structured rate hike, they have a bargaining chip: a new location or a disparity in the amount of rent they're being charged. "We had neither," she said. "We had no relocation option, and we had a fair rent--it wasn't low and it wasn't high."

She said the deal came together because the building's owners, who represent a Marine pension fund, looked at the long-term value of having a stable tenant. While renegotiating the rent hike, both parties agreed to add another seven years to the agreement. "In a hot market like this one, where rents have only gone up, up, up, we were very happy," said Cushman, who declined to disclose financial details of the lease.

Founded in 1976 by the National Governors' Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Council of State Governments, the SSO is charged with providing state affiliates with offices and services at a competitive price. The organization's primary function is to manage on-site support, information, and management services, including a library, communications systems and 11 conference rooms.