The task at hand is to fill 66,000 sf of empty office space for the 20-year-old building at 15600 JFK Blvd. in the North Belt/Greenspoint submarket. "We're focused on increasing our occupancy at Intercontinental Center and feel that Transwestern will supplement the expertise offered at the property," Peter Johnson, senior vice president of Equity Office's Houston region, said in a press release. "Adding Transwestern to our leasing efforts allows our internal leasing team to focus on alternative properties in our portfolio, while adding a dedicated senior-level team to pursue prospects at Intercontinental Center." Equity Office's on-site vice president Brad Fricks will lead the leasing effort with help from the Transwestern team of David Baker and Clint Bawcom.

Baker, a Transwestern executive vice president in Houston, tells GlobeSt.com that he's optimistic the majority of the vacancy will be filled in 2004. The empty office space is the result of several move-outs over time, he says, adding the largest contiguous block totals 35,000 sf. He confides the balance of the leases turn on a stabilized schedule for an overall minimal leasing exposure. Equity Office will continue to manage the property.

"Intercontinental Center is one of the best class A office alternatives for tenants in the North Houston area," Baker says. The building is one of 18 class A structures in the submarket, with a 7.7% vacancy in a combined 3.7 million sf. Intercontinental Center's lead tenant is Intec Engineering. The building's asking rate ranges from $18 per sf to $19 per sf.