Equity Office, which owns a minority interest in Wright Runstad,will assume management responsibility for most of its 16-building,6.2-million-sf Pacific Northwest portfolio next year. In doing so,Equity is expected to hire virtually all of the 125 employees whomake up the existing property-level management staff at WrightRunstad.

Wright Runstad spokesman Alex Pietsch tells GlobeStcom thatEquity's decision in no way impacts the strong strategicrelationship the two companies have developed, or their ability towork together on future development projects. "Being a publiccompany and a national company, it makes sense for them to managetheir properties here the way they do all over the country," notesPietsch. "When we signed an agreement with them in 1997, we knewthere was a three-year deadline and knew this was apossibility."

According to Pietsch, Wright Runstad will continue to performmanagement services at the Amazon.com Building, World Trade CenterWest and North, King Street Center in Seattle and the ODS Tower inPortland, all buildings in which Equity Office has no ownershipinterest. Wright Runstad will also continue to manage theWashington Mutual Tower, which it owns in partnership with EquityOffice.