The new deal is touted as one of the largest leases year to date in the Stemmons Corridor. Drive Financial Services' new footprint in the north tower at 8585 N. Stemmons Freeway fills four floors from the eighth to the 11th, 10,000 sf on the mezzanine level, 1,500 sf in the concourse and a 2,456-sf fitness center, once a tenant amenity that will be converted into private use for its staff. "It's a small part of the whole deal in the scheme of things, but it is an added amenity," Dale Ray, regional leasing director in Dallas for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. "There was a TI allowance for the transaction. And, Drive can deploy those dollars where they see fit." The fitness center has been empty about a year. He says finish-out is just wrapping up although keys to part of the space already changed hands.

Ray says the deal effectively adds about 12,000 sf of office space for a pact set to expire in July 2006. The package was at the bargaining table nearly six months. Ray teamed with JLL vice president Juan Escudero to represent the building owner, Jamison Properties Inc. of Los Angeles. Jeff Ellerman and Bob Hagewood with Dallas-based Staubach Co. were the tenant's reps. The deal nudges occupancy to 78% in the 898,000-sf asset, which carries a quoted rate of $15 per sf to $17 per sf.