HOUSTON — (Realty News Report) – Plains Marketing, L.P., one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America, has extended its 259,774-SF lease at Three Allen Center through 2036.
Plains Marketing, which has been a tenant at the 50-story Three Allen Center since 1992, was represented by Trey Strake, David Guion, and Chris Oliver of Cushman and Wakefield of Texas.
Brookfield Properties, the owner of Allen Center, was represented in-house by Tyler Merritt, and by Bubba Harkins, Jenny Sealy and Kristen Rabel of CBRE.
Three Allen Center, 333 Clay Street, is a 1.2 million-SF building at Brookfield Properties’ Allen Center campus in downtown Houston.
The Allen Center campus, located near Smith Street contains over 3 million SF of office space and 50,000 SF of retail.
The Allen Center campus, was revitalized through extensive renovations, including modernized lobbies, reimagined common areas, and seamless connections to outdoor green spaces.
In addition to Allen Center, Brookfield Properties also owns the Houston Center complex in downtown and a number of other downtown properties.
The first skyscraper component to Allen Center – the 34-story One Allen Center – was completed and opened in 1972.
A few years ago, Brookfield spent $48.5 million for the first phase redevelopment of Allen Center and subsequently spent an estimated $200 million more in upgrades to other phases of Allen Center, Houston Center and its other downtown buildings. Brookfield Properties, a major landlord in downtown Houston, has never disclosed the full price tag for its redo program, but its downtown redevelopment budget has been significant.
A Market Imperative – Upgrade Your Skyscraper or Else
Brookfield’s spending to upgrade its downtown office buildings is critical in today’s office market. New buildings have been consistent winners is the competition for tenants in recent years. .
That has pressured owners of older buildings to spend heavily for improvements in order to avoid slipping into Class B status.
The competition has been exacerbated in the post-Covid era when employees wanted to work-from-home instead of going into the office.
In March 2021, Brookfield Properties finished the initial salvo in its downtown renovation efforts with a redevelopment program called Reimagining of Allen Center.
Renovations included the creation of a park-like lawn with tables and chairs called The Acre. With landscape architecture by OJB – The Office of James Burnett, the outdoor space at Allen Center, which had been an afterthought, became a highlight with the new green space. The lawn is bordered by trees. Some trees were retained and 171 new trees were planted to create The Acre.
Thermally efficient glass was installed on the first and second floors at Two and Three Allen Center, as well as the skybridge connection between the two buildings. Brookfield also acquired the adjacent DoubleTree hotel, redeveloped it and rebranded as “C. Baldwin” with affiliation in the Hilton Curio Collection.
The most significant improvement at Allen Center involved the removal of two barriers along Smith Street – a skybridge and exterior berms and old-school landscaping that was off-putting to pedestrians and passersby. It was all part of the urban-fortress planning mindset from decades ago when tunnels and skybridges ruled downtowns and diminished sidewalks that required mixing with the crowds of pedestrians at-grade.
Jan. 13, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
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File. Plains Extends Huge Downtown Lease Through 2036
Photo by Peter Molick. Courtesy Brookfield Properties