Diamond Offshore, which acquired the asset in 1996, went looking for help after Mariner Healthcare exited three floors or 70,000 sf to end a two-decade run of the two sharing the structure at 15415 Katy Freeway. Eric Anderson, a Transwestern senior vice president in Houston, won the leasing assignment for the eight-story building, being managed by Cowperwood Corp., the property's developer and former building owner.

Anderson tells GlobeSt.com that he started courting Diamond Offshore for the assignment about six months ago when he learned Mariner Healthcare was relocating. He says the building owner took about three weeks to select the broker after making the decision to outsource. Diamond Offshore's headquarters fills five of the eight floors.

"The location in the Energy Corridor and quality of the building gave it a high probability for success (in leasing)," Anderson says of his motivation to chase the contract. The building is a class B plus with an asking rate of $18.50 per sf, which is about $2 above the average class B rent in the submarket and several dollars below the class A average price. Anderson is betting the property will attract cost-conscious tenants who want the high-profile atmosphere of the Energy Corridor, a submarket with 9.3 million sf of the 19.8-million-sf inventory in class A product. He says he's talking with several potential tenants, but there are no firm commitments as yet.