To hold onto the oil-and-gas industry tenant, which "had looked in the market" for a possible move-out, three other tenants were asked to shift office spaces within the complex, Trizec Properties Inc.'s leasing representative Margaret Sigur tells GlobeSt.com. A 13,000-sf block, one held by Enron Corp., was vacant about a year.

The Chicago-based Trizec and Plains Marketing started talks about six months ago for the renewal and expansion, Sigur says. Trey Strake and Kevin Ray with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. represented the tenant. In keeping with the confidentiality provision, Sigur wouldn't disclose the lease's value, but did say effective rents in the 3.2-million-sf office complex are running about $18 per sf to $20 per sf with improvements and concessions. Published rents are $20 per sf to $22 per sf gross.

The three-tower complex, now 85% occupied, has been home to Plains since 2000 when it acquired Scurlock Permian, a tenant since 1988 in Three Allen Center at 333 Clay St., says Sigur. The expanded lease is a mark of Plains Marketing's intention to grow. "They knew they were going to be acquiring other companies and would need additional space," she says.