THE WOODLANDS – (Realty News Report) – The Howard Hughes Corporation has purchased two former Anadarko office towers in The Woodlands and a 63-acre corporate campus in Houston’s Energy Corridor from Occidental Petroleum for $565 million.
The transaction follows Occidental’s $55 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. last August and the company’s subsequent decision to sell non-core real estate assets.
Howard Hughes announced Monday that it acquired a substantial portfolio of properties from Occidental in The Woodlands, including:
A 31-story, 807,586-square-foot office building formerly known as the Anadarko Allison Tower at 1201 Lake Robbins Drive. Occidental has signed a 13-year lease for the entire building. The tower was built in 2000 when Anadarko relocated from Greenspoint.
A 30-story, 595,854-square-foot office tower at 9950 Woodloch Forest Drive, formerly the Anadarko Hackett Tower. The Howard Hughes Corporation, which is relocating its headquarters from Dallas, plans to move into this tower and aims to lease the building fully within 36 months. The tower was completed in 2014.
A 9.3-acre parcel near The Woodlands Town Center for future development, with frontage on Interstate 45 North.
A 125,000-square-foot warehouse in The Woodlands that is fully leased to Occidental for 13 years.
In the Energy Corridor, Howard Hughes acquired Occidental’s 63-acre corporate campus near the Katy Freeway and North Dairy Ashford. The 17-building complex, the former ConocoPhillips campus, contains about 1.3 million square feet of office space. Howard Hughes expects to market and resell that campus within 12 to 18 months.
“The sale of office complexes in the Houston Energy Corridor and The Woodlands is part of our plan to divest non-core assets and strengthen our balance sheet,” said Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub. “It was important to us, and many of our employees, to maintain a presence in The Woodlands and we are pleased to have signed a 13-year lease to remain in the community.”
Occidental, based in Houston, was represented in the sale by Brandon Clarke, Executive Vice President; Jared Chua, Senior Vice President; and Steve Hesse, Vice Chairman, of CBRE.
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The Class AAA office project has been rebranded as The Woodlands Tower at The Waterway.
“This acquisition of Class AAA office space in The Woodlands Towers at The Waterway, along with the additional properties in The Woodlands, expands our local portfolio,” said Paul Layne, recently named Chief Executive Officer of The Howard Hughes Corporation. “Our existing 2.5 million-square-foot office portfolio in the market is currently 94 percent leased, positioning us to meet growing demand for premium office space as companies relocate and expand within The Woodlands.”
Although Howard Hughes was primarily interested in the Woodlands assets, including the Energy Corridor campus in its offer made that proposal more attractive as Occidental sought to divest multiple properties.
Dec. 30, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019
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