Harold Farb Skyscraper Sold

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – A 46-story office tower developed in Houston’s Galleria area by legendary developer Harold Farb has been sold.

The 980,000-SF building, called San Felipe Plaza, was acquired by Sovereign Partners of New York.

As one of the tallest buildings the area, 5847 San Felipe, is located at the southeast corner of San Felipe and Augusta Drive.

San Felipe Plaza was developed in the early 1980s by Houston multifamily magnate Harold Farb, who was well known in Houston’s elite social circles. His high-profile divorce was considered front-page news. When Farb completed the building in 1984 the Houston economy slipping into a deep valley. Farb was transparent about his financial distress, telling 1980s-era news reporters he was losing $1 million a month on San Felipe Plaza.

The office tower is the most significant project built by Farb, who also developed a 10-story building on Bering Drive.

But Farb, who died in 2006, was mainly known for multifamily development. Farb developed 30,000 apartment units in Houston and other cities. On Westheimer Road, he also built the Carlyle – a $6 million supper club where he would don a tuxedo and sing Frank Sinatra-style tunes.

Farb’s office masterpiece, San Felipe Plaza, sits on 5.3 acres adjacent to Westminster United Methodist Church.

Designed by noted Los Angeles-based architect Richard Keating while he was with Skidmore Owings & Merrill, San Felipe Plaza is located in the Tanglewood neighborhood on the northwestern of the Galleria area.

The seller of the building, which is about 60 percent leased, was the Canada Pension Plan.

Billionaire Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital controls the nearby 5555 San Felipe building, a 41-story office tower that may be converted to residential.