One Congress Plaza is a 518,000-sf office building Downtown that is owned by Equity Office Properties Trust. Brown McCarroll has been in the building for 15 years. In order to keep its long-term tenant, EOP tore up the law firm's 91,969-sf lease scheduled expire next fall and cut a new 10-year deal for 106,345 sf at a lower lease rate, according to brokers familiar with the transaction.

David Alsmeyer, Chris Gamel and Michael Boykin of Kennedy Wilson represented Brown McCarroll in partnership with Phil Capron of Falcon Southwest. EOP was represented in-house by Mark Miller. Alsmeyer, Kennedy Wilson's regional managing director, tells GlobeSt.com that given the 23% vacancy in the Downtown class A market, he was able to identify several viable options for the law firm, but in the end "Equity stepped up and offered the best value." Miller tells GlobeSt.com the expanded lease commitment raises occupancy at One Congress Plaza to 93%.

The transaction includes a tenant improvement allowance that will allow the law firm to complete "a fairly extensive re-stacking of its space" that will be phased in over the next eight to 10 months, says Alsmeyer, adding that EOP will provide alternate work space in the building to assist with the renovations.