Dallas Trophy Gets 100,497-SF Nod

Fulbright & Jaworksi, a tenant since 1987 at 2200 Ross Ave., added a full floor or 24,093 sf with class AA signing. The firm did look around before making the final decision, says Greg Biggs, southwest region vice president in Dallas for New York City-based Julien J. Studley Inc. "We went to market early because we wanted to look at build-to-suit opportunities," he tells GlobeSt.com. The search of existing inventory and proposed office product was confined to class AA and class A.

Biggs and Ric Kanatzar, assistant director, represented the law firm, headquartered in Houston. Matt Craft, Trammell Crow Co. principal, and Jon McNeil, senior vice president, handled negotiations for the building owner, Equitable-Nissei Dallas Co. The Dallas-based Trammell Crow holds the leasing and management pacts for the 1.3-million-sf tower.

"There are obvious advantages to being downtown," Larry Kalinec, partner-in-charge of Fulbright & Jaworski's Dallas office, said in a press release. "As a large international firm, it is important to both clients and the firm that we maintain an office profile that reflects our firm's capabilities."

Monte Malone, the firm's director of administration, said the lease's "favorable restructuring" and expansion to another floor were "key to solidifying the firm's decision to stay downtown." The new office area will be used for corporate and health practice groups and the summer associate program. The Fulbright & Jaworski firm, founded in 1919, has 835 attorneys in 11 offices, including Hong Kong, London and Munich.

Dallas' trophy market was the bright spot in the fourth quarter, the one area that the optimists used for "show and tell" about the positive signs around town. JP Chase Morgan Tower's 55 stories were 93.2% filled prior to the law firm's expansion. Office space is advertised at $18 per sf to $28 per sf annually.