REAL ESTATE

Shearson Lehman Mortgage Co. has sued developer Trammell Crow Co., real estate investment company First Winthrop Corp. and Fluor Engineers Inc. for at least $5 million, saying they reneged on an agreement to lease office space to Shearson in the Fluor Irvine Complex.

The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that Trammell Crow, First Winthrop and Fluor Engineers led Shearson to believe that it had an agreement to lease 54,000 square feet but then tried to raise the rent and otherwise change conditions of the lease that they had agreed to in a letter to Shearson.

A lawyer for Shearson said a new First Winthrop executive appointed after the agreement was made objected to the terms as too generous and backed out of the deal.

Shearson Lehman asked the court to grant it a lease at the old terms and $5 million in damages.