HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Chevron, which finalized its acquisition of Hess Corp. on Friday, says 575 people will be laid off from their jobs at Hess Tower in downtown Houston.
The layoffs will create vacancy at the 844,763-SF Hess Tower at 1501 McKinney St., across from Discovery Green park.
When Chevron closed on the $53 billion Hess acquisition last Friday, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC that workforce reductions will be forthcoming as Hess and Chevron merge.
Filings at the Texas Workforce Commission say the layoffs impacting Hess Tower will begin on Sept. 26.
Hess had been the primary tenant at the building for years. The upcoming layoffs would create vacant space at the Hess Tower, which could be returned to the market as sublease inventory. Office vacancy remains a problem in the Houston area, although activity has improved somewhat in 2025.
The downtown office vacancy rate for Class A buildings is 33.4%, according to a second quarter report by Colliers.
The 29-story Hess building is owned by H&R Real Estate Investment Trust, a Canadian REIT, which bought the building in 2011 for more than $500 per SF, a record price for Houston properties at the time..
Designed by the Gensler architecture firm, the Hess office building is located adjacent to Discovery Green park. During construction, the building was called Discovery Tower until Hess signed a lease for the entire building in 2009.
Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors developed the 845,000-SF Hess building, which was completed in 2010.
Chevron, which moved its headquarters from California to Houston last year, already has sizable offices in its two Houston skyscrapers, the 40-story 1500 Louisiana and the nearby 50-story 1400 Smith. Multimillion-dollar renovations are underway at the Chevron buildings, but the company has not disclosed details.
July 24, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
Photos credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report, Copyright 2025
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File: 575 Employees to be Laid Off at Hess Tower in Downtown Hess, 575 Employees to be Laid Off at Hess Tower in Downtown Chevron 575 Employees to be Laid Off at Hess Tower in Downtown