Double Deal Fills 38,444 SF in Las Colinas

The Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Co. took down 22,316 sf in a 10-year lease for Waterway Tower at 433 E. Las Colinas Blvd. and Matheson Tri-Gas Inc.'s industrial division carved out 16,128 sf in a seven-year deal for Las Colinas Commons at 1525 W. Walnut Hill Rd. Both tenants are eyeing move-ins around Sept. 1.

"Deals are getting closed in Las Colinas," Brandon Henry, senior associate with Stream Realty Partners/Oncor in Dallas, tells GlobeSt.com, "but if there's a 20,000-sf deal in the marketplace, you've got to stay after it. Both are fairly indicative of that market, you've got to be persistent."

Texas Mutual will pick up roughly 4,000 sf of extra room when it moves from 13411 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. Henry says the lease expires in 2007 so it could end up on the sublease market.

The dealmaker was the room to get the team onto one floor, according to Henry, who teamed with Stream managing director and partner Ben Sumner to negotiate terms against Staubach Co. senior vice president Calvin Hull. "They just liked the Urban Center," he says, adding the deal's been in motion since last October.

The 10-year lease takes the 221,941-sf Waterway Tower to 67% occupancy for its Dallas owner, Bandera Ventures Ltd., and "nice space with a definite market TI" for the tenant, Henry adds. The class A space is quoted at $18 per sf while the finish-out allowance for a five-year deal is $20 per sf.

Matheson Tri-Gas, headquartered in Parisppany, NJ, will relocate from 6225 Highway 161 in Irving to light space that's been dark nearly three years. Dallas-based Staubach Co. associates Douglas Carignan and Jeff Staubach, represented the tenant while Henry partnered with Paul Moser, Stream's managing director and partner, to bargain the owner's terms.

Owned by Dallas-based Crow Holdings, the inbound tenant has committed to 26% of the building, which is now about to undergo mechanical upgrades and possibly a facelift. The class B space is being marketed at $14 per sf plus utilities and a finish-out allowance of $20 per sf for a five-year term.