RREEF, a REIT that owns the Unicorn Park complex, allowed Davis to build only if the firm was granted an option to buy the five-story structure upon its completion. After the building quickly leased up by the end of 1999, RREEF decided to exercise its option.

"It has always been our strategy to own all of the buildings at Unicorn Park," says RREEF official Eric Berke. The park now features 600,000 sf in six buildings, and will be fully built out once a 168-room Marriott Hotel is constructed there next year.

Principal Jonathan Davis says he had no compunction in accepting the arrangement, explaining that his 25-year-old company has traditionally structured its portfolio with an even mix of long-term holds and short-term investments. In some cases, as in the Unicorn Park deal, external factors determine which category it is placed into. "We couldn't have built that without an [option]," Davis says, adding that he believes the effort proved a success. "This is a transaction that worked well for them and for us," he notes.