"Alliance wanted to be closer to the hub of downtown because they needed their space to be more convenient so people could walk to it," says Chuck Goldstein, principal of CRESA Partners' local office. He represented Alliance Worldwide in the transaction while John Spafford and Doug Little with Houston-based PM Realty Group negotiated for the building owner of 1010 Lamar St., KBS Realty Advisors of Newport Beach, CA.

Goldstein tells GlobeSt.com that Alliance Worldwide had a lot of options in the downtown and searched nearly three months trying to find existing built-out space. "We never really found anything like that, but 1010 Lamar accommodated us with a space it had just built out for a model office. With a few tweaks, it was ready for Alliance," he explains.

Alliance Worldwide previously was housed in 8,100 sf at 1301 Fannin St. According to Goldstein, the firm's lease had an early termination clause. "They had the opportunity to get out earlier and decided relocation was best opportunity," he says. "With technology, a lot of travel agents can telecommute so Alliance didn't need as much space."