MIAMI-The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation renewed itsnearly 23,000 square-foot lease at the 1.2 million-square-footWachovia Financial Center in downtown, the largest Class A officebuilding in South Florida.

The Knight Foundation renewal comes at a time when WachoviaFinancial is facing competition from two new buildings in downtownand Brickell--the 750,000-square-foot Wells Fargo Center across thestreet, which just lured away major tenant Deloitte, which movedinto 50,000 square feet at the building, and the nearly585,000-square-foot 1450 Brickell building less than a mile to thesouth. One other major tenant at Wachovia Financial, the law firmBilzin Sumberg, will be moving out in the next six months.

The Knight Foundation, a training and advocacy organization forjournalism and the arts, will continue to occupy a full floor atWachovia Financial. It didn’t need to shrink or grow, says JackLowell, vice president at Flagler Real Estate Services, LLC, whorepresented the Knight Foundation in lease negotiations and who isalso the leasing agent for the Wells Fargo Center. Usually whatdrives tenants out of buildings is the inability to grow orreconfigure their space, he says.