Equity Office Properties Trust says it's a matter of customer satisfaction. It is safe to assume, however, high security is at the top of tenants' wish lists since Sept. 11. "We've received overwhelming positive feedback from our customers about the quality and caliber of security service provided at the ACSS-partnered properties in our other cities," says Mark Kidd, Equity Office's vice president of property management in the Houston region.

Who Houston-based American Commercial Security Services replaced is a top-level secret as much as the measures that will be imposed. The contract is a multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreement to provide professional security services at the portfolio's five office buildings. These buildings are 2500 City West, a 574,216-sf office tower at 2500 City West near West Road and Beltway 8; Brookhollow Center I, II and III, a three building office complex totaling 798,000 sf at the intersection of Loop 610 and US Highway 290; Intercontinental Center, a 195,000-sf structure at 15600 JFK Blvd. near the airport; Northborough Tower, a 208,000-sf building at 100 Glenborough Dr., also near the airport; and San Felipe Plaza, a 959,000-sf office building at San Felipe in the West Loop Corridor.

Moore says the contract is just one of many of this size for the Houston-based subsidiary of ABM Industries Inc., headquartered in San Francisco. The security subsidiary employs about 5,000 people, but expects to beef up its roster as a result of the Equity Office contract. Moore believes that less than 1% of the existing workforce will be added.