Office

HOUSTON-Middle East Travel holds firm to a 4,122-sf office at Richmond Plaza I in Houston's Westchase submarket. The renewal keeps the 176,000-sf, class B property at 90% occupancy for building owner, BMS Management of New York City.

FT. WORTH-Bass Enterprises and Crescent Real Estate Equities are close to deciding who gets the contract as retail electric provider for the Jan. 1, 2002 deregulation. It's a powerful decision fueled by reliability and savings for building owner and tenant.

LONDON-Office rents in Europe were falling even before the events of 11 September dealt a further blow to business confidence, according to new research from CB Hillier Parker.

DALLAS-Sublease space is about double the norm, say researchers in their latest reports of the Dallas-Ft. Worth market. Still, there's a take-it-on-the-chin optimism that bargaining table strategies, for the most part, are keeping a lid on the pressure cooker.

PORTLAND, OR-Cascade Biologics will move its corporate headquarters to Custer Street Building when renovations are completed later this year.

BIRMINGHAM-United Bank of Kuwait has agreed to forward-fund an office 24,000-sf building on Development Securities' Birmingham International Park just as a serviced office provider agrees to lease it.

ST. PAUL-After looking elsewhere in the Twin Cities, the public radio network will buy a nearby building and connect it to its current headquarters creating a new 150,000-sf complex.

ARLINGTON, MA-This town is taking a regional approach to development in the area by asking neighboring Belmont and Cambridge to join it in a tri-community development district. Similar districts have been established in other areas of eastern Massachusetts.