HOUSTON-Rowan Cos. renews and expands its class A office lease, rolling in another 4,642 sf. A tenant since 1991, Rowan agrees to another five-year stay in the 63%-leased, 1.5-million-sf high rise.

ATLANTA-Steven Shores is now a partner and senior development officer at the locally based development firm. He comes from the Denver office of Hines Interests where he headed activities in Colorado, which included oversight of one million sf of commercial office and mixed-use space.

PHOENIX-Hines and A&L Development Phoenix will break ground in Q4 2006 on Central Park East, 1.4 million sf of mixed-use space. The two-acre project for an in-town campus along with office, retail and condo space has been under negotiation for a year.

MEUDON, FRANCE-Axalto, a provider of microprocessor cards, leases three of six buildings that comprise the 484,000-sf development here that is under construction. The developer, a joint venture of Hines European Development Fund and AXA Corporate Solutions, says it also has a buyer for the campus.