HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Group RMC, a New York-based investment organization, has acquired a skyscraper on Westheimer Road, west of The Galleria.
The 22-story, 491,092-SF tower is located on the north side of Westheimer at Bering Drive,
Years ago, the tower had been known as MCO Plaza and One Westheimer Plaza.In 2017, the former owners, UBS Financial Services launched a $10 million renovation of the tower, including an enhancement of the exterior green space.
JLL Capital Market’s Kevin McConn and Rick Goings, marketed the building on behalf of the seller, an affiliate of UBS. JLL secured the three-year, floating-rate acquisition loan with Sound Point Capital Management with the assistance ofJLL’s John Ream.
The transaction comes as Houston’s office market works through a vacancy problem. Many researchers place Houston’s office vacancy rate above 25 percent, regarded as one of the highest vacancy rates in North America.
Investor activity, which was soporific in 2020, has picked up.
“Despite the headwinds associated with the Houston office market, there is still a significant amount of liquidity for the right product,” said JLL’s McConn. “5718 Westheimer is a great example of what many of these investors are seeking in today’s environment – well-located, high-quality asset with durable in-place cash flow and a diverse tenant mix.”
The Westheimer office tower is currently 67.6 percent leasedwith KHOU TV, Channel 11, as a key tenant. (KHOU’s old facilities on Allen Parkway were flooded in Hurricane Harvey.)
Developed by Alfanco, the Westheimer tower was designed by Houston’s Morris Aubry Architects, which designed a number of other significant Houston buildings in the 1980s, including the Wortham Center, the 1600 Smith skyscraper and the 1001 Fannin tower in downtown.
The building won the 1999-2000 Houston BOMA Office Building of the Year award.The tower is certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Oct. 21, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
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File: Houston Office Tower Sold
File: (2) JLL Capital Markets.Kevin McConn, Rick Goings. John Ream, Houston Office Tower Sold to New York-based Group RMC
Image: Courtesy CBRE