HOUSTON – The Exxon Mobil Chemical Co. headquarters campus in Houston’s Energy Corridor is up for sale. The property sits on 35 acres in the heart of Houston’s Energy Corridor, adjacent to the BP America Headquarters, across Interstate 10 from both ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil’s North American Exploration and Productions headquarters, and within a mile of Mustang Engineering and Dow Chemical. The campus includes 352,170 sf of office space and conference center space. The Exxon Mobil Chemical campus, located at 13501 Katy Freeway, features 1,000 feet of frontage on Interstate 10 and 800 feet of frontage on Memorial Drive. HFF is marketing the property on behalf of Exxon Mobil.
April 2, 2013
Shorenstein Taps Transwestern to Lease Redeveloped Exxon Building in Downtown Houston
By Ralph Bivins
HOUSTON — Transwestern has been retained by Shorenstein Properties to lease the ExxonMobil building at 800 Bell, a 1.2 million-sf office tower in downtown Houston.
A major renovation is being planned by Shorenstein, which paid $50 million to buy the building a few months ago. There has been speculation that Shorenstein will attempt to connect the building to Houston’s downtown tunnel system, which is de riguer for Class A buildings in today’s office market.
The property includes a 45-story office tower and a seven-story parking garage covering two city blocks on the corner of Travis and Bell Streets.
800 Bell was built in 1962 as the headquarters of Humble Oil & Refining Co., a predecessor to ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil will vacate the building in 2015, giving Shorenstein the opportunity to deliver significant improvements via an extensive redevelopment, details of which will be released soon, Transwestern said.
ExxonMobil will be moving to its huge 3.25 million sf corporate campus, which is being built now on 400 acres north of Houston, near The Woodlands.
With the high-quality office space to be newly constructed, 800 Bell offers an exciting opportunity in the CBD with its unique corporate identity on the Houston skyline and one of the largest blocks of contiguous space offered in Houston in more than 30 years.
“Shorenstein has a reputation for delivering successful signature redevelopment projects, such as Market Square in San Francisco, which includes the headquarters of Twitter, Yammer and One Kings Lane. We are excited to see what Shorenstein has in store for 800 Bell and downtown Houston,” said Transwestern’s Eric Anderson, executive vice president.
Anderson, David Baker, executive vice president, and Paul Wittorf, vice president, will market and lease the property.
March 25, 2013
Hotel REIT Buys Old Humble Oil Building in Houston
HOUSTON – RLJ Lodging Trust acquired the historic Humble Oil Building complex in downtown Houston for $79.5 million or $151,000 per room for what will become three Marriott related hotels.
The Humble Oil Building is a three-tower complex that occupies an entire city block at 1212 Main Street. The complex consists of an 82-unit apartment tower that will be converted to a 166-room SpringHill Suites and two existing hotels, a 191-room Courtyard and a 171-room Residence Inn.
“Our ability to execute this off-market transaction required the expertise, experience, and relationships that are unique to RLJ,” commented Thomas Baltimore, Jr., President and CEO of the Bethesda, Md.-based firm. “Acquiring the Humble Oil Building complex represents a value-add opportunity.”
The building was constructed in the 1920s. It’s only a few blocks from the 45-story Exxon Mobil building which was purchased a few months ago by Shorenstein Properties.
March 17, 2013
Hartman REIT Buys Dallas Office
DALLAS – Hartman Income REIT, Inc., a Houston based Real Estate Investment Trust, announced today that Hartman Short Term Properties XX, an affiliate, has purchased the Parkway Plaza I & II office buildings in Dallas from Merit Texas Properties.
“We are excited about making another investment along the Dallas North Tollway at the prominent Spring Valley intersection. The quality of this location enhances our portfolio and provides out newest fund with substantial upside potential through renovation and increasing occupancy,” said David Wheeler, EVP of Acquisitions and Finance
The project is a 136,283 sf, two building office property with JP Morgan Chase, as a key tenant.
Tom Strohbehn and Scot Farber of Cushman and Wakefield represented the seller and Dave Wheeler, Julian Kwok, and Matt Blasi represented the buyer, Hartman Short Term Properties XX.
Houston-based Hartman Income REIT is a $330 million trust which owns or manages 36 properties with 4.8 million sf of office, industrial and retail space in Texas.
