Gurwitch signed a medium-term lease for 13259 N. Promenade Rd. in Stafford. The location will be staffed with 75 office and distribution workers.

Gurwitch is 51% owned by the Neiman Marcus Group Inc. It produces, manages and markets Laura Mercier Cosmetics and Skincare, a global brand of high-end cosmetics. "The Fort Bend County area offers an economic climate that greatly benefits a growing and dynamic company such as ours," Bob Hurtte, Gurwitch's senior vice president of operations, said in a press release about a move to "combine our two offices into one, synergistic operation in Stafford." The eight-year-old, Laura Mercier product line is sold in 400 stores in 17 countries. Annual sales rose more than 25% for four consecutive years.

The firm is taking down space in the two-building, 251,200-sf Freeport Southwest Business Center, owned by the San Francisco-based Rreef. Robert Gulley in the Houston office for Dallas-based Henry S. Miller Commercial represented the tenant. Brian Gammill with Houston-headquartered Transwestern Commercial Services brokered terms for Rreef. Lease rates in the area run between 30 cents per sf and 40 cents per sf.