HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – The owners of the 51-story Heritage Plaza, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the downtown Houston skyline, have retained JLL to take over leasing of the building.
The tower was designed by M. Nasr & Partners, which gave the tower a crown that resembles a Mayan temple.
Located on the western edge of downtown at 1111 Bagby Street, the 1.15 million-SF building is one of the tallest towers west of the Mississippi River.
Heritage Plaza faces the wide green space of Buffalo Bayou Park and it is often featured on B-roll video and introductory footage when sporting events are held in Houston.
The tower, which was completed in 1987, once served as the headquarters of the old Texaco oil company. The building was completed at the tail-end of Houston’s most prolific construction boom, which ended with a vicious one-two punch featuring collapse of oil prices and widespread failures of Texas banks and savings and loan institutions.
Upon completion, the Heritage Plaza building sat vacant for years as Houston’s office market went through a barrage of foreclosures and put on halt on any plan that any real estate developer had held of erecting another skyscraper. (A broader view of Houston’s construction boom of the 1980s is detailed in Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town, a book by Ralph Bivins.)
Brookfield bought the building in 2010 for $321 million or $280 per SF from Goddard Investment of Atlanta.
In 2014, AEW, a Boston-based investment manager, acquired a major stake in the building, joining as partners with Brookfield. AEW was believed to be acquiring at least an 85% stake in the tower, paying about $413 per SF. At that time, the valuation of Heritage Plaza was about $475 million, according to a Realty News Report article at the time.
Brookfield Properties also own the Allen Center office complex adjacent to Heritage Plaza.
“Downtown Houston remains an in-demand location for companies focused on employee experience and long-term growth,” said David Sternberg, Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Operations, Brookfield Properties. “Heritage Plaza is uniquely positioned to meet that demand, and we look forward to working with JLL to showcase the property’s modernized workplace experience and long-term value to the market.”
July 13, 2026, Realty News Report Copyright 2026
Feature image: Heritage Plaza by CALpix, Copyright 2026, Realty News Report.
THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT PODCAST
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Mike Spears of Lee & Associates Houston
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Bob Parsley of Colliers Houston
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Mark Davis of Davis Commercial
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with David Hightower of Midway
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Alex Kamkar of Bold Fox Development
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Brad McWhirter of Trahan Architects
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Lacee Jacobs of Rebel Retail Advisors
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Danny Rice of Colliers
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Trey Odom of Avera
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Kris Larson of Downtown Houston +
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Jim Carman of Howard Hughes Holdings
File: New Leasing Team Arrives at Heritage Plaza