Energy Firm Lease Raises Hines Downtown Tower to 80% Occupancy
The 609 Main at Texas building was designed by Pickard Chilton.
HOUSTON – EnVen Energy Corp. has signed an 11-year lease for 57,139 square feet at 609 Main at Texas, a 48-story, 1,073,075-square-foot office tower in downtown Houston.
The independent oil and natural gas company, which focuses on deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico, plans to relocate to the building this fall and will occupy the 31st and 32nd floors.
With this lease, 609 Main at Texas is now 80 percent leased. Existing prominent tenants include Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Orrick, Hogan Lovells, McKinsey & Company, Russell Reynolds Associates, Royal Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, and United Airlines.
Several lease transactions are currently pending and are expected to raise the building’s occupancy to 93 percent.
Hines was represented in the deal by Michael Anderson and Damon Thames of Colvill Office Properties, while EnVen Energy was represented by Jim Bailey of Cushman & Wakefield.
Downtown Houston has been adjusting to a large supply of office space as vacancy rose in recent years amid lower oil prices. At year-end, downtown Houston had approximately 1.5 million square feet of Class A sublease space, according to CBRE. Class A vacancy in the Central Business District stood at 14.8 percent—rising to 19.8 percent when sublease availability is included.
The downtown office market is also seeing a “flight to quality,” with many tenants moving into new or recently renovated buildings to upgrade their workspace.
609 Main, which celebrated its grand opening on May 17, 2017, was designed by internationally recognized architect Pickard Chilton.
The building offers a hotel-style lobby with a café and networking areas; a 7,000-square-foot high-performance fitness center; an 8,000-square-foot conference center; full-height windows that provide ample natural light; an advanced underfloor HVAC system; and private roof gardens available in select tenant suites.
Hines, founded in 1957 by Gerald D. Hines, operates in 207 cities across 24 countries.
