The purchase price is being kept under wraps, but industry sources confirm the 23-year-old building brought $105 per sf from the winner of a bevy of bidders. Transwestern Commercial Services is the building's lead tenant and retains the management and leasing contracts. The companies are affiliated but maintain separate identities by virtue of management and capitalization. They also share resources such as co-branding, a Transwestern Investment contact explains to GlobeSt.com.

"As a major tenant in the building and its existing property manager for three years, Transwestern Commercial Services has a proven track record and is prepared to exceed the new owner's expectations," says Larry Heard, president of Transwestern's Southwest Region.

The Uptown/Galleria office tower is 80% occupied and underwent renovations in 2000. Other notable tenants include the law firm of Jim Adler PC, Quanex Corp., Comerica Bank and SAIC.

Granite Partners' Houston office represented J.P. Morgan in the transaction. The building has been widely marketed since last fall. "Competition for the building was strong," says Robert Williamson, Granite's managing director. "Investors were drawn to the building's strategic location, high quality and below-replacement cost valuation."

Williamson says J.P. Morgan owned the building for 10 years and sold it to rebalance its portfolio. "It was time to sell," he says, intimating the decision was part of the portfolio's spring cleaning. The sale, he says, is an indication of investors' interest in the prevailing upside opportunities of the Galleria submarket. The heated competition is a testament to its vitality in the Houston business climate, second only to the downtown.