The long-term leases, mostly 10-year contracts, took the wind out of the sails for Victory Tower, a highly touted office component proposed for a $600-million, mixed-use project spearheaded by Ross Perot Jr. For Crescent, the celebrated package keeps the 1.1 million sf at 90% occupancy, but that number will grow in the next 30 days when another five to seven leases are inked as backfill for 130,000 sf emptied by Peat Marwick, John Zogg, Fort Worth-based Crescent's senior vice president of asset management and leasing, tells GlobeSt.com.

"It was an incredible start to '03," Zogg says. Now, the hard focus is on reclaiming the 100% occupancy enjoyed for the last five years at the Uptown property.

The Crescent's main score came at 200 Crescent Court with renewals from the golden team of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. and Weil Gotshal & Manges. Most around town had pegged the duo as the backbone for the tenant roster at the Tom Hicks-sponsored Victory Tower, which has been sitting on drawing boards for nearly three years.

The wait is over: the Hicks team has taken 33,784 sf for 10 years to keep the same address it's had since the late 1980s. Weil Gotshal & Manges, a tenant for 10 of the 15 years it's been in Dallas, signed for 65,221 sf to stay at the side of its long-time client and deliver another 10-year pact.

Zogg says the two leases, in Crescent's mind, weren't contingent upon each other. Still, it's a sure bet that their close business ties would mean where one goes, the other follows. Crescent's Michael Silliman crafted the deals for the building owner of record, Crescent Real Estate Funding I LP. Elysia Ragusa and Carl Ewert, both with Dallas' Staubach Co., represented the two tenants.

The Crescent's original developer, Rosewood Property Co., re-upped 52,194 sf at 500 Crescent Court while Rosewood Resources Inc. held tight to 25,993 sf at 100 Crescent Court. Both long-term deals were handled solely by Silliman.

UBS PaineWebber, a six-year tenant, renewed 21,897 sf in a 10-year lease for 100 Crescent Court. Silliman negotiated the terms with the one-time Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. team of Jack Fraker and Susan Pausky.

Zogg says the five leases effectively end the renewals coming due this year in the trophy property. Renewals, keeping true to the forecasts, are driving the deal making in the marketplace. At the Crescent, 80% of the deals that came due were renewed. "It's been an outstanding year of retaining customers in this project," he says, noting that the property still holds onto its reputation as being the priciest office address in town but one that he says he says remains "the best value." When all factors are tabulated, rent ranges from $32 per sf to $36 per sf.