TC Dallast/Fort Worth Investment and Development Ltd. has 45days to complete a due diligence review on the property whichincludes the tower and an adjacent six-story annex housing officeand a 940-space parking garage. Loutex and Trammell Crow, thebuilding's property manager, are hopeful for an Octoberclosing.

"Having been both a tenant and the property manager of thetower, we are very familiar with its potential, and we areoptimistic about the role that it will play in the city's future,"says Trammell Crow executive Jim Eagle in a prepared statement. Thepurchase will mark TCC's first property ownership in Tarrant Countyalthough it leases and manages in excess of 9.6 million sf ofoffice and industrial space in the region. TCC officials predictbuilding repairs will easily stretch into the first quarter tobring the building back to its pre-tornado state.

About a month ago, Loutex halted extensive repairs and issuedvacate notices to the building's 65 tenants, claiming restorationof the glass tower was cost prohibitive. Talks quietly began asstreet rumors began to float about an imminent sale - a deal thatcame about late Thursday night. One tenant, the Reata restaurant,immediately filed an injunction request and managed to stall aLoutex-imposed 30-day eviction deadline until October.