For the last eight years, the firm's oilfield services division been the top name in the Schlumberger Solutions Center, a 450,508-sf, 21-story building. Mark Russell and Gerry Trione, both with Trione & Gordon LLP in Houston, represented Schlumberger. Russell says all options, leased and build-to-suit, were scanned in the yearlong search that focused on the Galleria, Westchase and Sugar Land, where Schlumberger has a corporate campus.

The decision to stay, Russell says, was tied to the quality of the class A building and ease of access for employees. The building sits on the Galleria's western fringe, somewhat removed from the freeway construction that's now underway. "The deal worked for everyone," Russell says, not talking about the terms but noting it was good enough to keep Schlumberger in place.

Linda Mulvihill and Dean Wilkens, both with Tanglewood Property Management of Houston, represented the building owner, 5599 San Felipe Ltd., a Houston-based investment group. Wilkens confirms it was a long-term signing, but also wouldn't go into detail about the terms that kept occupancy at 95%. The 23-year-old building's quote rate is $19.50 per sf.

The loss of a submarket tenant the size of Schlumberger would have been particularly hard on the Galleria submarket, where office absorption was down 304,330 sf at midyear, according to Trione & Gordon's latest report. Just in the second quarter, the Galleria submarket backpedaled 155,007 sf on absorption. The submarket's direct vacancy is 15.5% or five million sf with another one million sf plus of sublease space up for grabs.