The 509,559-sf 600 E. Las Colinas will be leased by Mike Pierre, director of the Dallas-based GVA Cawley. He is moving into a multimillion-dollar renovation scenario, set to begin in two weeks.

Porter says each asset had a different need that the owner felt would benefit from the change in today's leasing environment. "We're going to be aggressive. We're going to do what we have to do to make deals," he says.

Porter says Terrell was tapped to lead the Centura play because he's shown his skills in the submarket with the 351,872-sf JPMorgan International Tower III at 14241 Dallas Pkwy., whose new owner slid in its long-time brokerage house, Transwestern Dallas. Porter says the sale created an opportunity to get a submarket-savvy broker with no assignments for competing buildings in the immediate area.

"We're looking for a lead tenant. We felt Stream was in a good position to develop a plan and execute that plan," Porter says. "Our big push is to get preleasing for Centura Tower II."

Porter's best guess is that the second tower will cost at least $100 million to build. The 420,000-sf high rise will be similar to the 15-story Centura Tower I.

Terrell also will get Stanford Corporate Center at 14001 Dallas Pkwy. after the deal closes, according to Porter. The deal has already gone hard.

The plan is to tie the 95%-leased Stanford to Centura by developing the extra land that connects them and the freestanding health club, Telos Performance Center at 13701 N. Dallas Pkwy. Porter says the land is being sized up for a mid-rise multifamily project. "We're also in the process of identifying a hotel," he says.

Terrell believes he won the portfolio's crown jewel. "All of them are nice, but I've always thought Centura was one of the finest buildings in the metroplex," he says. The sweet spot is its high occupancy and stable lease roll, which he says will allow him to focus on finding a lead tenant for the upcoming project.

[IMGCAP(3)]For Pierre, his piece is a 72%-leased high rise in the Las Colinas Urban Center. The 22-story building at 600 E. Las Colinas Blvd. has had mechanical systems upgraded, but there's still plenty of work to do. Porter says work will begin in two weeks to revamp the multi-tenant restrooms and fitness center. A lobby overhaul will get underway in 60 days. Bids are now being gathered.

"We are positioning it to compete in the Las Colinas market for premium rents," Porter says. "600 E. Las Colinas is second only to the Towers at Williams Square, but we need to put some lipstick on it, some very expensive lipstick."

Porter says the game plan is to build a 2% bump into the standard 4.5% broker commission for a lease signing at 600 E. Las Colinas, much like what was done for the Horizon Lines Inc. coup. "If we can get a repeat performance, we'd love to pay a 50% bump in the bonus," he stresses.

Porter says the decision to change leasing teams began with the Hickory buildings and snowballed from there. CBRE has been leasing Mercer Crossing for the past year, with talks eventually turning to branding prospects for all pieces of the park, including an upcoming multifamily project by Icon Partners LLC.

Porter says the permit is in hand for Three Hickory Centre, with financing now being finalized. The plan is to break ground in the summer and deliver it one year later. Its sisters are the 102,615-sf One Hickory Centre at 1800 Valley View Lane; 96,127-sf Two Hickory Centre at 1750 Valley View Lane; and 226,911-sf Four Hickory Centre at 1755 Wittington Place.

"We always thought it made sense from the get-go to consolidate all the Mercer Crossing assets," says Johnny Johnson, a Capstar partner. He says the changing of the guard was surprising, but not unexpected given today's leasing environment.

"Owners' perception today is the market is going down. I never cease to be surprised how owners will react in this market," Johnson says. "We had a great run in a very short period of time." He says the pending Centura deal will push it to 100% occupancy. There are 75,000 sf of leases completed or close to completion for 600 E. Las Colinas.

"We're proud of what we've done. We've certainly exceeded any performance that's been done previously on those buildings," Johnson says, adding Capstar still has 20 million sf of third-party contracts. "But, clients do move around and things do change. Sometimes, you just move on down the road."