HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Hines, in partnership with Cerberus Capital, has acquired the 600 Travis building, a 75-story office property known as the tallest tower in Texas.
The sales price was not disclosed. But, according to Real Estate Alert, the price was estimated to be around $627 million or $300 per SF in a recent report.
The sale also includes the adjacent 601 Travis Street (formerly JPMorgan Chase Center). The transaction conveys a total of 2.1 million square feet of office and retail space in downtown Houston.
The two buildings are at the epicenter of Hines’s holdings near the intersection of Texas Avenue and Travis Street, where Hines controls a number of high-rise office and residential towers.
The 75-story tower, developed by Hines, is a 1.7-million-SF office tower that opened in 1982.
Hines has retained HOK to design a significant renovation to the building, including major updates to the lobby and exterior plaza area, as well as the addition of connected, collaborative workspaces and enhancements to other building common elements, and the addition of a thoughtfully designed conference center.
“Our goal is to enhance 600 Travis’ position as one of the top office buildings in the southwest,” said John Mooz, Hines Senior Managing Director John Mooz. “With significantly more activated common space and opportunities, the repositioning will promote greater tenant attraction and retention and will be a testament to Hines’ unmatched ability to maintain an asset’s architectural heritage while fostering a contemporary image for the modern workplace.”
Hines’ investment partner in the building is Cerberus, a New York investment firm that will own a majority stake in the property.
“600 & 601 Travis are institutional assets that strategically sit in Downtown Houston’s thriving North District, which boasts a mix of office, living, and cultural offerings,” said Tom Wagner, Head of North American Real Estate and Senior Managing Director of Cerberus. “We look forward to leveraging our firms’ combined operating and asset management expertise to upgrade and modernize 600 Travis to meet the contemporary needs of tenants in this dynamic market.”
The seller of the office complex was Prime Asset Management, which is controlled by family of Rafic Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon.
I.M. Pei & Partners designed the building, previously known as the JP Morgan Chase Tower and earlier as the Texas Commerce Tower. The tower is located on a block bounded by Texas, Capitol, Milam and Travis streets.
With a height of 1,002 feet, when the 75-story tower building it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. But a few years later it was surpassed by a tower in California. Chase moved its offices out of the building years ago. The Chase bank in the first-floor lobby closed last year the building’s name was changed.
The 600 Travis building, located near the Theater District, features a large outdoor plaza. The focal point of the plaza is a monumental sculpture by Joan Miró entitled “Personage and Birds.” The sculpture is the largest Miró sculpture ever commissioned.
For a number of years, Hines has been managing the tower and Colvill Office Properties has handled leasing.
The Houston Endowment, a major philanthropic institution that has its offices on the 64thfloor of the tower, is planning to relocate to its new headquarters building being developed near Buffalo Bayou park.
Oct. 29, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019
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