James P. Bailey Jr., senior vice president of Cushman Realty Corp., has negotiated the deal on behalf of Cockrell. He tells GlobeSt.com that Cockrell recently has sold oil and gas properties, resulting in excess space at the Smith St. location.
Jim Arket Sr. vice president of Grubb & Ellis Co.'s office group, has represented Pure Resources in the deal. Pure Resources is a Midland, TX-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company.
The Cockrell deal is Bailey's second significant CBD sublease. He also has found a taker for 24,662 sf on the 12th floor of Louisiana Place, located at 1201 Louisiana. Ocean Energy Inc., a Houston oil and gas exploration company, has subleased the office space to AEP Energy Services Inc., a Columbus, OH-based trader of electric SO2 credits and natural gas. Lucian Bukowski of the Staubach Co.'s Houston office has represented AEP.
Bailey, who has heavy dealings in the CBD, says leasing activity primarily has been coming from large energy companies' expansions although class-A vacancy rates are at a historical low. Among those expanding operations is Dynegy, Reliant Energy, Enron Corp. and Calpine Corp. And, he adds, leasing activity outside of those parameters has been notably slow, with a few exceptions.
"In the near term," says Bailey, "there will be two blocks of space available when Enron occupies their new building and Chevron-Texaco completes its consolidation." But, there is space coming to market down the road with developments by Crescent, Hines and Century. "Downtown is certainly hot, but mainly because of a few bonfires," he says. As in other cities, high rent and parking costs are driving some companies to the more affordable suburban submarkets.
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