Richard H. Rudd, senior managing director in Granite Partners' Houston office, says he's fielded several inquiries about Enron's headquarters at 1400 Smith St. An Enron spokesman says the building's title belongs to a consortium of 20 banks led by JPMorgan Chase, but it's not bound to any assumable debt.

Enron moved into the class A-plus building in the mid-1980s and then bought it in 1997, putting a limited partnership's name on the deed and structuring a synthetic lease, an overused and abused accounting practice that contributed to the energy giant's downfall. Enron is to vacate the premises in March 2004. Real estate sources tell GlobeSt.com that Enron has committed to 200,000 sf in Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.'s 4 Houston Center at 1221 Lamar St.

Rudd and Granite's Gerard V. Mason, senior managing director in New York City, will steer a sealed bid sale, with all offers due by Sept. 19. The schedule calls for a purchase agreement to be stamped no later than Nov. 7 by the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York and a closing by Dec. 5. Part of Granite's role will be to help package financing for the winner, if needed.

Designed by Lloyd Jones Brewer and built by Century Development Co., the office building was christened Four Allen Center, but renamed in 1997 although it remains linked to the 3.2-million-sf Allen Center complex via a skywalk and tunnel. Rudd says he doesn't know if Chicago-based Trizec Properties Inc., owner of the three-building Allen Center, will make a run to reunite the four buildings.

The buyer will have to be "someone with a long-term vision," Darrell Betts, senior vice president of investment sales for Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Houston office, tells GlobeSt.com. He's betting the CBD will "come back a lot quicker than people are saying" from the double Enron hit due to the city's affordable lifestyle and revitalized downtown, a magnet for corporate relocations.

Sanford Criner, principal with Trione & Gordon in Houston, estimates the sale and Enron's downsizing will tack another 4% onto the CBD's 16% vacancy. Although much of the building is dark, the empty space hasn't been factored into office market reports unlike Enron Center South, the 1.2-million-sf, 40-story building across the street at 1500 Louisiana that brought $102 million at an auction about a year ago.

Rudd says the bid process was chosen this time because there is more flexibility with negotiations than with auctions. All proceeds naturally will be funneled to the court for disposition to the corporation's long list of creditors. Enron filed bankruptcy in 2001 and has since laid off more than half of its employees.

Although Enron had a reputation for excessiveness, 1400 Smith St. is a standard class A-plus office tower on 1.2 acres, according to Rudd. There are no gold sinks or any other ultra-high end amenities often associated with Enron's toppled hierarchy. But, he adds, the structure does have "state-of-the-art" building systems and 25,000-sf floor plates. The high-rise's 2003 proposed Harris County assessment is $92.5 million, down $20.9 million from 2002.