The building owner's team is opening talks with a $17 per sf rate for 900 Threadneedle St. According to Jason Whittington of NAI Houston, who represented Cole Chemical in the transaction, the tenant received a fair market rate on the deal. "They didn't need all of the space anymore, which is why we sold the building," he adds.

After selling 8915 Gaylord Rd., Cole needed "a nice space that didn't need a tremendous amount of renovation," Whittington tells GlobeSt.com. "We had to move quickly--and the space was in good condition."

Cole just moved into a 169,698-sf building that was close to fully occupied at the time of the lease. "We took almost all of what they had," Whittington says. "They only had about 10,000 sf of space remaining and we took part of that." Kristine Lilly of Moody Rambin Interests represented building owner, New York City-based TIAA Realty Inc.