RS Investments, a boutique investment firm, again got the capital for 1201 Louisiana from Cigna Investments Inc. of Philadelphia. The new five-year loan carries a 5.5% interest rate versus 6.75% of the retired five-year, $60-million loan, Steve Shumake, vice president in the Houston office of LJ Melody & Co., tells GlobeSt.com. He and Tom Melody arranged the financing.

Shumake says the borrowers refinanced to take advantage of the historically low interest rates. RS Investments purchased the 32-year-old building in 1997, using a fund initiated in late 1995 with $50 million in equity. The fund, now closed, acquired five assets, two of which were sold. Shumake says the RS Investments Property Fund III was an opportunity pool that targeted assets with high rates of return through upside potential.

The investment group has a fourth fund now in the market looking for stable, lower-risk properties. Shumake says each fund consists of about 50 high net-worth investors with 15% of the equity coming from RS Investments' principals.

Shumake says 1201 Louisiana has panned out for the investors in a big way. Bought for about $68 million, it is valued at $105 million. It is 90% occupied, with a tenant roster with names such as the Metro Transit Authority and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Rent, once in the low teens, is now about $22 per sf, according to Shumake.