"They were able to take advantage of the improved cash flow and increase their debt level," comments David Aaronson, with Live Oak Capital in Houston. Aaronson arranged the five-year, 5.85%-interest loan with a 30-year-amortization through Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, based in New York City.

Aaronson tells GlobeSt.com that the new loan also allowed Rockwell Management to recapture some of their investment in the project. Rockwell Management acquired the building in 1999, three years after its second foreclosure sale. As recently as two years ago, when Rockwell obtained its first refinance loan, the building stood at 61% occupancy. Today, the asset is stabilized at 95% leased.

"Rockwell's done a great job of filling the building up," Aaronson comments, adding that the building itself, built in 1973, is still in very good shape. "They're just focusing now on keeping the tenants happy."

The eight-story building's tenants include Barrett Burke Wilson Castle, Petris Technology Inc., Suzanne Bruce & Associates and Gebbia Holding Co. Though the asset today is a success story, it has had a checkered past. Prior to its late 1990s acquisition by Rockwell Management, the building was twice in foreclosure, and bought both times by Washington National Insurance Co. Rockwell Management 's first refinance involved an $8.8 million loan with a variable rate.