Bandera's plan, seeded with equity from New York City-basedLehman Brothers Inc., all along was to reposition the 13-storyWaterway Tower at 433 E. Las Colinas Blvd. and its sister, the10-story, 238,320-sf Canal Plaza at 400 Las Colinas Blvd., boughtin one fell swoop from Fidelity Investments LP. Bandera started itsplay with 12% occupancy in Waterway Tower and an empty Canal Plaza.The locally based Bandera tested the market once before withWaterway, but pulled it when nibbles weren't high enough, sourcesrecall.

But the times have clearly changed in Las Colinas in the pastsix months, with rents and occupancy steadily rising to pre-2001levels or higher in some cases. This time, Waterway Tower reeled inat least a dozen offers in a marketing focused on the value-addthat Bandera left in the deal, says CB Richard Ellis vice presidentGary Carr, who teamed with colleague Russell Ingrum to steer thesale.

The Hartford-based Cornerstone, an affiliate of MassachusettsMutual Insurance Co., hasn't bought office product in the regionfor a couple years, but its offer was clustered at the top withseveral others who wanted a piece of the Urban Center, Carr tellsGlobeSt.com. All that he can reveal about the sale price is it wasbelow replacement cost.