Situated on 10.8 acres at 12606 Gessner Rd., the former GreatIndoors has been on the market since 2003 for $8 million. "GardenRidge said they'd be happy to lease so we went down that path,"says H. Dean Lane, partner with NewQuest Properties in Houston, whorepresented the building's owner, Chicago-based Sears Roebuck &Co. "The building didn't generate a whole lot of activity as asale." The lease consideration wasn't readily available, but theasking rate for long-term leases in the area can range from $19 persf to $23 per sf.

The one-time Great Indoors location closed in late 2003, threeyears after it opened. "It's been vacant since then," Lane says,estimating its down time is pushing 14 months. Garden Ridge hasstarted retooling the building so the store can be open before theyear ends. "Sears just leased it to Garden Ridge on an as-isbasis," NewQuest associate Matt Reed says, "and they're renovatingit to fit what they need." Darin Gosda of Betz Cos. in Houstonrepresented Garden Ridge Corp.

Lane says Garden Ridge's execs first approached NewQuest aboutthe building's availability "while they were coming out ofbankruptcy," Lane says. "We've been courting each other for thepast 14 months, trying to make a deal."