The insurance company signed a 10-year lease for 30,000 sf,increasing its space from 18,000 sf, says Eric Johnson, managingdirector of Transwestern Commercial Services, who represented thebuilding owner Prudential Financial. "Northwestern Mutual made aconscious decision to align themselves in real estate product that(meshes) with their image," he tells GlobeSt.com. "Moving to OneRiverway was really an image decision rather than justeconomics."

Johnson says Northwestern Mutual liked One Riverway's treedsetting and proximity to the Omni Hotel and Houstonian. "They havea lot clients who come in from out of town and they need a niceplace to stay," he says.

According to Johnson, winning the Northwestern Mutual's leasewas a coup for the 480,000-sf building that was built in 1979."This was a highly competitive deal--every landlord in the Galleriawanted this deal because of the quality and credit ofNorthwesternMutual," he says. "We got more aggressive on this dealthan we have on any other transaction."