"Our space on the 16th floor was a hodgepodge of various renewals and expansions," Robert Wilson, Haynes and Boone's managing partner, tells GlobeSt.com. The Dallas office of Gensler Architecture, Planning & Design Worldwide is redesigning the former space of the Metropolitan Club for a late fall occupancy by the law firm.
Wilson says the reconfiguration, which requires a gutting, will provide ample room for growth and visiting attorneys. He says the class A office area essentially encompasses the same amount of office space at the 16th floor, but it will be far more efficient than the existing accommodations.
According to Wilson, the search got under way a year ago with a full market survey. The list was pared to five and then settled down to one: its existing building owner, Chicago-based Equity Office Properties Trust. "The whole market down there is a tenant's dream and a landlord's nightmare," Wilson says. "All the landlords were aggressive and so was Equity."
The 600 Congress Ave. office complex is a 32-story design with 505,000 sf of class A downtown space, which is within walking distance of the state capitol, federal courthouse and University of Texas. The international corporate law firm, with 450 attorneys in nine offices, has been a tenant for the last 15 years.
Haynes and Boone used its longtime Dallas broker, Bob Edge, vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., to negotiate the lease. Edge, who's counted the firm as a client for at least a decade, was assisted by C&W's Matt Heidelbaugh, associate director, and Mark Boynton. Equity's in-house broker, Matt Miller, structured its terms.
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