Located at 515 Congress Avenue in the downtown area, the 26-story buildingcontains 342,000 sf.The 28-year-old building has never been managed by another company thanHines.

Hines officials said it plans to continue inroads in the Austin area, andwill begin refurbishment of the Bank of America Center building bylate summer.The company is also redoing the building's lobby and public corridors.Susman, Tisdale and Gayle, a design firm based in Austin, has been selectedby Hines to oversee the design.

Hines officials said plans in the city also include pursuing officebuild-to-suits and speculative development, residential and mixed-useprojects and third-party management projects.

"The center will remain part of (Austin's) vibrant downtown businessdistrict," said Hines EVP Staman Ogilvie."We anticipate the updates to the building and expansion plans will continueto attract both established and emerging businesses seeking high-endoperating space."

Kathy Carr, associate VP, and Michael A. Kennedy, president andfounder of Commercial Texas, are heading up the firm's efforts on behalf ofHines.The pair is already in negotiations on 25,000-sf of space on behalf ofexisting and new tenants.

Commercial Texas has had other success in Austin, such as subleasing morethan 85,000-sf of operating space on behalf of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &Feld LLP in 2002. In 2000, Kennedy and his team, in conjunction with RobertEdge of Cushman & Wakefield, lead efforts in creating and pre-leasing 300West Sixth Street building, the downtown's first Central Business Districthigh-rise in 14 years.