HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Nitya Capital, a Houston real estate firm led by Swapnil Agarwal, has acquired the One Westchase Center office tower in West Houston.
The 466,000-SF building,10777 Westheimer, is located just west of Sam Houston Tollway.
Nitya Capital had been primarily known as a multifamily investor focused on workforce housing. Its portfolio includes 17,300 multifamily units in Texas and other states. However, in recent years Nitya has been expanding and it currently owns 1 million SF of office, 400,000 SF of retail and hundreds of single-family homes.
Nitya Capital’s founder, Swapnil Agarwal immigrated from India when he was 15 years old and settled in Houston with his working class family, which could not afford a car. So he rode the bus.
As a youth, Agarwal worked across the street from the One Westchase Center, delivering advertising flyers to area residents.
He says he often admired the office building which his Nitya Capital has now acquired.
“As he worked his first few jobs, Swapnil remembered vividly his weekly route for flyer distribution for his family’s small business in which he would always take a moment stare at the grand corporate office building across the street on Westheimer. Its majestic modern glass architecture was always bustling with accomplished, busy businessmen and women. This office complex represented everything Swapnil dreamed of becoming: a leader and a pillar in the business world,” says a Nitya Capital press release.
“Just as One Westchase Center served to be an inspiration for Swapnil to grow and build his dreams of becoming an industry leader in the real estate world, so too will this same, newly renovated office complex serve to build the dreams of future business industry leaders! “ Nitya says.
Agarwal has been recognized nationally for his entrepreneurial achievements, winning the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2017.
Nitya Capital also owns the 200,000-SF Nitya Tower, formerly known as the Norfolk Tower, near the intersection of the Southwest Freeway at Greenbriar.
Nitya Capital is buying the One Westchase building at a time the Houston office market is going through a rough patch.
The citywide office vacancy rate is at a 20-year high, over 22 percent vacant, according to a recent Houston survey by NAI Partners.
Houston’s office market has hit with problems associated with coronavirus pandemic, in addition to declines in the energy industry, which has battled a freefall in oil prices and a sharp decline in drilling activity.
The One Westchase building has seen a number of different owners over the years. Investcorp, a global investment firm with headquarters in Bahrain, had owned the building since acquiring it in 2013.
This is the second office investment deal announced in Houston this week. The Realty.com firm just bought a 20-story tower in Greenspoint.
Aug. 28, 2020 Realty News Report Copyright 2020
File: Nitya Capital Buys Office
File: One Westchase. 466,000-SF, 10777 Westheimer, Nitya Capital Buys Office
Clarification: Griffin Partners is not a former owner of 10777 Westheimer.
