Michaels says he told lenders to look beyond the perceived economics of Downtown Dallas real estate. "We see Bank One Center, and some of the other high-quality Downtown Dallas office properties, as similar to many West Loop Chicago offices of perhaps a year ago," the investment banker continues. "The tendency is to simply associate a single asset with the entire market's performance, when the reality is that there are a group of assets which are clearly out-performing their peers."

Michaels adds, "We felt this was the case with Bank One. We were able to get lenders to look past certain Dallas vacancy issues and focus on Bank One's clearly dominant position in the market." Carlton vice president Chad E. Buchanan and partner Michael J. Campbell worked with Michaels on the financing transaction.

The Bank One Center acquisition brings Metropolitan Real Estate Investors' portfolio to "well over" two million sf, Michaels says. The company continues to scour the country for other trophy office assets, according to Metropolitan principals Revah and Abikzer.

Bank One Center was completed in 1987 on a 1.8-acre block housing 1.7 million gross sf and 1.53 million rentable sf. It sold for $141.17 per sf, or about $100 below current replacement cost, construction sources familiar with AA office building hard costs tell Globest.com. When it was built 19 years ago, the estimated hard cost would have been about $70 per sf. Today it is at least $250 per sf, according to construction industry sources. Noted New York City architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed Bank One Center.