Capital Risk, a retail insurance and risk management consulting firm, has cut a direct deal for 15,000 sf that it's been subleasing from Maxxam Inc. and is picking up the firm's balance in sync with its lease termination of floors 26 and 27 in the 45-story high rise at 5847 San Felipe St., Steve Crawford of Chicago-based Equity Office Properties Trust, tells GlobeSt.com. Maxxam's termination takes effect Dec. 31 and Capital Risk's new long-term lease effectively kicks in Jan. 1, he says.

The Capital Risk team started in a San Felipe executive suite about 18 months ago and shortly thereafter subleased space from Maxxam on the 27th floor and later took 6,857 sf on the 29th in a direct deal with Equity One. Crawford says Capital Risk is considering holding onto the 29th floor office because the 959,000-sf high rise is 93% occupied. The new deal, he confides, does include rights for "a first look" at any other space that might open up in a building with a quoted rate of $21 per sf gross. Elliott Hirshfield and Sanford Criner with CBRE/Trione & Gordon represented Capital Risk.

Crawford says the new headquarters lease was structured to allow for construction time. "It's not as-is space, but it's not a gut either," he says. The expansion space will be ready to occupy in March 2005.

Crawford says the deal, one year at the bargaining table, basically amended the small direct lease, rolled in the two floors and set a co-terminus end. He says the hurdle to overcome was convincing Capital Risk's executives that there are benefits to being in a building with other tenants rather than occupying one of the readily available large blocks, particularly in the Galleria where occupancy hovers 80%. "At the end of the day, there was one other compelling location," he says. "Our ability to be able to respond quickly, deal locally and sign the lease locally was probably the difference."