Holliday Fenoglio Fowler's Houston office set up the auction, which started on Monday and ran for three days. It was held at the New York offices of law firm Weil, Gotschal & Manges. Now that the auction proceedings have concluded, the winning bid must be ratified by federal court in the Southern District of New York. Enron has the right to reject the offer, though it is considered unlikely.

The race lost one player by the end of day two, when Houston-based Hines dropped out. Inside sources then split their bets between Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. of Fort Worth and Houston's Century Development. But a source involved in the deal tells GlobeSt.com it was Gary Barnett's Intell that walked away with the keys.

The nearly vacant 1.2 million-sf building reportedly carried an initial price tag of more than $300 million, but industry experts predicted a final gavel to strike at around $100 million.