TC Dallast/Fort Worth Investment and Development Ltd. has 45 days to complete a due diligence review on the property which includes the tower and an adjacent six-story annex housing office and a 940-space parking garage. Loutex and Trammell Crow, the building's property manager, are hopeful for an October closing.

"Having been both a tenant and the property manager of the tower, we are very familiar with its potential, and we are optimistic about the role that it will play in the city's future," says Trammell Crow executive Jim Eagle in a prepared statement. The purchase will mark TCC's first property ownership in Tarrant County although it leases and manages in excess of 9.6 million sf of office and industrial space in the region. TCC officials predict building repairs will easily stretch into the first quarter to bring the building back to its pre-tornado state.

About a month ago, Loutex halted extensive repairs and issued vacate notices to the building's 65 tenants, claiming restoration of the glass tower was cost prohibitive. Talks quietly began as street rumors began to float about an imminent sale - a deal that came about late Thursday night. One tenant, the Reata restaurant, immediately filed an injunction request and managed to stall a Loutex-imposed 30-day eviction deadline until October.