The insurance provider has made a long-term commitment for 135,000 sf of the 154,329-sf Greenway II, a Crescent Real Estate Funding VIII LP property at 2400 Lakeside Blvd. in the Far North Central submarket. Move-in will start in the second quarter and wrap up by year's end.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield is tackling an office consolidation of several regional offices while providing some extra space for its nearby Spring Valley campus. The signing pulls Nortel's name from the building and ends all speculation of a building project at the BC/BS Texas headquarters, an estimated 500,000-sf campus situated 2 1/2 miles south of Greenway II. The decision to build or lease has been one year in the making, GlobeSt.com is told.

Nortel Networks Corp., headquartered in Toronto, will continue to occupy one floor in the seven-story building, for the time being. An ongoing downsizing and lease expiration practically emptied the building about six months ago. The BC/BS pact effectively pushes occupancy to 100%.

The Crescent negotiating team consisted of Bill Rudd, leasing manager, and Mike Lewis, vice president of leasing and marketing. The BC/BS negotiating team consisted of Jeff Ellerman, associate, and Frank Ricca, senior vice president, for Dallas-based Staubach Co.

The final contract, Lewis says, "is fair to our customer but also fair to our stockholders. It's a delicate balance." Crescent's vice chairman and CEO John Goff, through the economic downturn, has pledged to warehouse space rather than drastically slash rates to fill buildings. Lewis says the end result of the latest deal held true to the cause.

"Location was important. Economics were important. The size of the building and the ownership were important," David Snyder, vice president of national marketing and development for the Fort Worth-based Crescent, tells GlobeSt.com. "We weren't selling the cheapest price, we were selling value."

Snyder says there were eight to 10 building owners initially chasing the deal. The short list had three. With the deal done, the office space is being staked out for the new tenant to drive a phased-in move-in that starts sometime between March and May.