But the big unanswered question is: Why did owner CB Richard Ellis Investors Inc. give the job to a rival? Brokers in CBRE's Houston office didn't return GlobeSt.com's phone calls at publication deadline.

In its prepared statement, Crow identified Alamo's owner but didn't disclose contract terms or why the owner switched leasing companies.

Area industrial brokers familiar with the northwest submarket tell GlobeSt.com the brokerage's percentage fee will probably be based on the amount of space it leases per year for the owner, a standard industry procedure.

The 63-acre, one-year-old Alamo Crossing has two tenants. Ford Motor Co. signed a reported 10-year lease earlier this year for 252,000-sf in the 644,000-sf Building A. JFC International Inc., a frozen foods firm, signed for 60,118 sf in building D in July.

Both leases were signed by the Houston office of CB Richard Ellis Inc.

Crow vice president Ross Matthews tells GlobeSt.com his team's strategy for completing lease-up at the project will include alerting the business community again of Alamo Crossing's potential and calling on the firm's long-standing relationships with the industrial brokerage community. Crow also plans to design incentive programs for both tenants and brokers.

Matthews tells GlobeSt.com Crow's track record in representing property owners exclusively was a factor in winning the Alamo contract.

Participants in the deal include Matthews and David Hudson, both directors of Crow's industrial brokerage division; John Holland, area director; Patrick Hicks, principal of marketing services; Stan Dowell, senior vice president of outsourcing services; and Sam Gillespie, managing director.

While Crow has no deals in the pipeline for Alamo, Matthews says the company is talking with prospective tenants and is showing the property regularly.

Net lease rates for bulk warehouse space are averaging 34 cents per sf; rear-load buildings are averaging 45 cents per sf net.