HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – The arrival of flood-impacted KHOU-TV Channel 11 as a key tenant – along with a hefty $10 million renovation budget – has triggered new leasing activity in the 5718 Westheimer office tower near the Galleria.
CBRE’s Marilyn Guion and Parker Duffie have inked over 18,000 square-feet in recent leases.
“The KHOU-TV station lease was a significant win for the building and has helped energize the property along with the improvements,” Guion said.
The television station moved into the building, a 22-story tower located at the corner of Westheimer and Bering Drive, earlier this year to occupy 43,000 SF on three floors of the tower.
KHOU’s building on Allen Parkway near Buffalo Bayou was inundated during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Flood waters came into the broadcast studios, forcing the station to move to the upper floor and eventually vacate.
In addition to KHOU’s tenancy, CBRE says the 5718 Westheimer building is gaining success because of $10 million in recent capital improvements and amenity upgrades, including a new entrance, updated multi-tenant corridors, new destination dispatch elevators, activated green space, and state-of-the-art fitness and conference center.
“Tenants and the market have taken notice of this transformed property and it is an extremely appealing option,” Guion said. “Ownership’s meaningful improvements and upgrades speak to their long-term commitment to the property.”
New tenants in 2019 include Fizer Beck, who leased 12,091 SF, Next Level Urgent Care will occupy 5,459 SF, and an additional 7,670 SF in leases have been signed. Tenants are benefitting from the highly marketable speculative suite program. Guion and Duffie have leased 70 percent of the move-in ready suites thus far.
The 500,000-SF building, developed by Alfanco Inc. in the 1980s, is owned by UBS Financial Services.
The Class A building won the 1999-2000 Houston BOMA Office Building of the Year award.
The 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.
Years ago, the 5718 Westheimer tower had been known as MCO Plaza and One Westheimer Plaza.
Oct. 24, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019
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