CBD Law Firm Stamps 106,761-SF Trophy Office Lease

"We locked down the deal a long time ago. We were just getting the legal aspects done," says Don Dowell, Bank One's leasing director for the Chicago-based Trizec Properties Inc., which owns the high rise in a 50/50 joint venture with Fort Worth's Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.

Dowell tells GlobeSt.com that the deal was tied down May 1, 2004, and the terms made retroactive, but it took until the final days of December to secure signatures. "Once it was nailed down, we weren't concerned at that point," he says. "Usually they don't drift away."

Dowell says the 17-year tenant renewed three years early for the same amount of space, cornering new carpeting and paint for four full floors--26, 27, 28, 29--and 8,000 sf on the 30th floor of the 60-story trophy at 1717 Main St. The deal includes reconfiguring some office space.

Hughes & Luce, represented by Carl Ewert with the Staubach Co., was one of the CBD tenants being wooed by Hillwood to jumpstart an office building project in Victory. "Hughes & Luce is a prominent name in Dallas and has been a valued customer at Bank One Center for many years," Thom Ridnour, Trizec's regional vice president, and Kirby White, leasing director at Crescent, says in a joint statement issued this morning. "We have taken great pride in fostering a positive, long-term relationship with Hughes & Luce and we are very appreciative of their renewed commitment to Bank One Center, as well as Downtown."

The Hughes & Luce transaction was one of 2004's top deals in the CBD and the largest to close at Bank One, holding the trophy at 89.3% occupancy. Earlier in the year, the law firm of Andrews & Kurth re-upped 70,000 sf at Bank One Center, owned by the JV of record, Main Street Partners Funding LP. Its quoted rent ranges from $21 per sf to $23.50 per sf plus electric.