HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – The 554,000-SF Schlumberger office building in the Westchase area has been sold, in one of the biggest suburban Houston office deals in years.
The buyer is a Colorado investment group affiliated with Marcel Arsenault, the founder of Real Capital Solutions.
The low-slung Schlumberger building, built in the 1970s, sits on a 29-acre tract on the southwest corner of Richmond Avenue and Briarpark Drive.
The property, 10001 Richmond Avenue, is just east of the Sam Houston Tollway and north of the Westpark Tollway. Schlumberger, which has 10 more years left on the lease, has been the sole tenant for several years.
The seller of the buildings was New York-based Lexington Industrial Trust, a publicly traded REIT formerly known as Lexington Realty Trust.
Lexington has been becoming more focused on industrial property and this transaction appears to be consistent with that mission with the reduction of office properties in its portfolio.
Lexington’s Houston Industrial Purchase in 2021
Last summer, Lexington added to its Houston portfolio with the acquisition of a newly constructed, fully leased, three-building, Class A industrial portfolio totaling 738,701 SF near the Port of Houston in Pasadena and Deer Park. The seller was Triten Real Estate Partners. The 44.6-acre portfolio comprises Bayport North Logistics Center I (9701 New Decade) and Bayport North Logistics Center II (4100 Malone) in Pasadena and Underwood Port Logistics Center (4660 Underwood) in Deer Park, all within Houston’s Southeast Industrial submarket near the Port of Houston.
Activist Investor Jonathan Litt Eyes Lexington
Meanwhile, Lexington Industrial Trust itself may be acquired soon. Activist investor Jonathan Litt of Land & Buildings Investment Management, has sent a letter to Lexington’s board, indicating that Litt may be making an approach. The deal would be a $4 billion transaction, maybe more. Litt, who demanded a seat on Lexington’s board, has an appetite for warehouses and Lexington has a 56 million SF industrial portfolio.
Feb. 26, 2022 Realty News Report Copyright 2022.
Photo credit. Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report Copyright 2022
File: Schlumberger Westchase Building Acquired
File: Schlumberger Westchase Building Acquired. Lexington Industrial Trust, Triten Real Estate, Bayport, Jonathan Litt, Land & Buildings Investment, Richmond Avenue, Marcel Arsenault