HOUSTON – Exxon Mobil’s abandoned Brookhollow campus near the intersection of Highway 290 and Loop 610 has been sold for what could become a major retail development in the close-in northwest Houston realty market.
The strategic 24-acre property was sold by the energy company to a partnership affiliated with Houston real estate investor Khaled Salem of Williamsburg Enterprises and Alan Hassenflu of Fidelis Realty Partners.
Since launching Fidelis Realty Partners in 2003, Hassenflu has built his Houston-based company into one of the leading retail center development firms in Texas with major projects including Meyerland Plaza and Baytown’s San Jacinto Mall.
The Exxon Mobil campus, at the intersection of Highway 290 and Dacoma Street, was one of several Exxon sites abandoned after the energy giant built its new 3 million square-foot campus on the north side of Houston, a few miles from The Woodlands.
The site, formerly known as the Exxon Mobil Brookhollow facility, has three old Exxon office buildings and some other structures. It is located just outside Loop 610. JLL represented Exxon Mobil in the sale.
The Exxon Mobil Brookhollow property is near the site of a proposed bullet-train station and the 1960s-vintage Northwest Mall. Although it is not far from The Heights, the Brookhollow area does not match the upscale demographics that Fidelis enjoys at its Meyerland Plaza, near Bellaire.
When the Brookhollow property was listed for sale in 2014, some had optimistically speculated that it would fetch as much as $40 million. But that was when oil was over $100 a barrel – before the rapid decline to $40 a barrel dampened the Houston real estate market and dented the local economy. The ultimate sales price was around $11 million.
Exxon Mobil fared much better with the sale of its 35-acre Exxon Mobil Chemical campus in the Energy Corridor which sold to Third Palm Capital for $75 million before the oil price collapse.
About three years ago, Exxon Mobil’s skyscraper at 800 Bell in downtown Houston was purchased by Shorenstein Properties for $50 million for a redevelopment that has been put on-hold till the office market improves.
May 18, 2016