T-Mobile Leases Offices on Southwest Freeway; Tower Gets New Name
The office building at 4126 Southwest Freeway will be renamed T-Mobile Tower.
HOUSTON – T-Mobile is relocating its Inner Loop offices to a prominent building on Southwest Freeway that will be renamed T-Mobile Tower.
The company will occupy three and a half floors—totaling approximately 29,142 square feet—in the 17-story property at 4126 Southwest Freeway near Weslayan. The building is owned by Medistar Corp., a Houston-based real estate firm led by developer Monzer Hourani.
Avison Young principals Doug Pack and Sam Hansen represented the landlord in the lease transaction. T-Mobile was represented by Tami Pearson and Lindsay Pearson of Waterman Steele Real Estate Advisors.
“Not only will you hear T-Mobile now, you will see them now,” said Sam Hansen. “T-Mobile’s new office space is clearly visible from the Southwest Freeway and sits among some of Houston’s most prestigious neighborhoods, such as River Oaks, Afton Oaks and West University.”
T-Mobile’s pending merger with Sprint will create the nation’s third-largest telecommunications company.
“Our business in Houston has grown significantly, and we need more space,” said Alisa Arner, vice president of T-Mobile’s South Central sales region. “We’re opening more retail locations, developing new leaders, expanding network coverage and adding capacity—all of which requires a larger team.”
T-Mobile signage will be installed atop the building, which benefits from prominent billboard exposure on the north side of Southwest Freeway, where about 330,000 vehicles pass daily. The 140,000-square-foot building is close to the Galleria and sits along major commuter routes to downtown and the Texas Medical Center, making it an attractive location for visibility and accessibility.
After a full renovation of its leased space, T-Mobile’s sales and engineering teams are expected to occupy roughly 30,000 square feet in early 2019. The building’s lobby and common areas are also being completely refinished as part of the upgrade.
Doug Pack
The T-Mobile lease brings the building’s occupancy to about 75 percent. “We are pleased with the tenacity and dedication of the leasing team led by Doug Pack and Sam Hansen,” said Craig Laher, vice president of Medistar. “When we began working with Doug and Sam, the building was 39 percent leased; maintaining a focused approach and strong work ethic has produced excellent results.”
Located near Greenway Plaza, the Medistar property has long been known as River Oaks Tower. It sits near the former site of Twelve Oaks Hospital, which closed in 2008.
Sam Hansen
T-Mobile will relocate from 2 Greenway Plaza, part of a roughly 4 million-square-foot office complex developed by Kenneth Schnitzer’s Century Development. Greenway Plaza recently experienced tenant shifts, including Occidental Petroleum’s decision to move to the Energy Corridor and place about 800,000 square feet of space on the sublease market.
Founded 44 years ago, Medistar is particularly active in medical-related real estate but also develops and manages assets across hotels, multifamily, and mixed-use sectors. Current projects include the 22-story InterContinental Houston Medical Center hotel and the 35-story LATITUDE Med Center apartment tower along Main Street at the Texas Medical Center.
