Gurwitch signed a medium-term lease for 13259 N. Promenade Rd.in Stafford. The location will be staffed with 75 office anddistribution workers.

Gurwitch is 51% owned by the Neiman Marcus Group Inc. Itproduces, manages and markets Laura Mercier Cosmetics and Skincare,a global brand of high-end cosmetics. "The Fort Bend County areaoffers an economic climate that greatly benefits a growing anddynamic company such as ours," Bob Hurtte, Gurwitch's senior vicepresident of operations, said in a press release about a move to"combine our two offices into one, synergistic operation inStafford." The eight-year-old, Laura Mercier product line is soldin 400 stores in 17 countries. Annual sales rose more than 25% forfour consecutive years.

The firm is taking down space in the two-building, 251,200-sfFreeport Southwest Business Center, owned by the SanFrancisco-based Rreef. Robert Gulley in the Houston office forDallas-based Henry S. Miller Commercial represented the tenant.Brian Gammill with Houston-headquartered Transwestern CommercialServices brokered terms for Rreef. Lease rates in the area runbetween 30 cents per sf and 40 cents per sf.