Decorative Center Splits Off Office Leasing Pact

Matt Minnis and Mark Preston are assigned to the property. Owner Cohen Bros. Realty Corp. of New York will continue to lease the showroom component, Preston tells GlobeSt.com. Moody Rambin's approach, he says, will be to retain tenants while "aggressively filling the remaining space."

According to Preston, upward of 40,000 sf is vacant on floors 7 through 10, with the largest contiguous space being about 8,000 sf. The building is about 93% occupied and consists of 70% showroom space and 30% office.

To help entice tenancy, a high-ticket upgrade is on the drawing boards. The makeover plan targets the lobbies, elevators and finishes as well as exterior landscaping and new signs.

Preston says there is a definite tenant shift from the lower-level showrooms to the seventh floor. The center, he says, is a normal, upscale office building in a serene setting of the densely forested Woodway area. And its tenant roster includes law firms, trading companies and advertising firms.

Preston believes the open office space will be a cinch to fill since each floor offers cityscape views. The asking price ranges from $20 per sf to $21 per sf. The showroom base was built in 1974 and the office tower added in 1985.

Cohen acquired the center last year from a partnership of Dallas-based developer Lucy Billingsley and Crow Holdings. The owner also owns decorative centers in New York and Los Angeles.

The stand-alone center is a concept property. There are 22 similar design centers in several major markets such as Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, Atlanta and San Francisco. The properties serve extremely high-end home furnishings and accessories. The center's placement near the upscale neighborhoods of River Oaks, Tanglewilde and Memorial Drive are key to its success. The target audience is households earning in excess of $100,000 per year.