Efforts to contact Sofft Shoe and its broker, Keith Gurtler ofJones Lang LaSalle, were unsuccessful by press deadline. BrickstoneSquare's exclusive leasing agents, M&G senior Vice presidentMatthew Daniels and associate Christopher Lawrence, were alsounavailable. Even so, industry sources insist Sofft Shoe has madeits choice.

"It's a nice win for Massachusetts," says one industryprofessional tracking the negotiations. The agreement would also bea boon for Transwestern Investment Co., the Chicago-based concernthat acquired Brickstone Square in late 2005 and has been preparingthe property to take advantage of the region's recovering officemarket.

Encompassing nearly one million sf, the park had substantialvacancy when Transwestern took ownership. The situation had becomeso acute that lender Lehman Brothers had taken the property backfrom the original developers, Brickstone Properties, following thedemise of chief tenant CMGI. The venture capital firm whosefortunes plummeted along with the technology sector to begin thedecade eventually walked away from 300,000 sf at Brickstone,leading to lender action. The empty space has trended down duringthe past 12 months and Brickstone Square reportedly is nowapproaching 75% occupancy.