Downtown Block Sold for New Parking Garage, Market briefs

HOUSTON–, The owners of the Houston Center complex have purchased a full city block in downtown where they will build a 12-story parking garage.

New Skybridge Connection to Houston Center

The new garage, which will have 2,053 parking spaces, and a skybridge connection to One Houston Center, a 46-story skyscraper at 1221 McKinney.

The One Houston Center building has faced challenges. For one thing, the LyondellBasell chemical and refining company moved out of the building recently, leaving behind a huge amount of vacant office space.

The new parking garage is slated to have ground-level restaurants or retail space, improving the amenities for people working in the nearby office towers.

AustralianSuper and Stream March Onward

The 4.6-million-SF Houston Center campus was purchased in May 2025 by lender AustralianSuper, a pension fund working in conjunction with Texas-based Stream Realty Partners.

For the new garage, the partnership has purchased Block 95, located at 1215 Walker St. on a downtown block bounded by Walker, Rusk, Caroline, and San Jacinto streets.

The block, containing some 64,601 SF of land now used as a surface parking lot, was purchased from a Dallas entity affiliated with Parking Systems of America.

“The purchase of Block 95 represents another significant investment in the long-term future of Houston Center and Downtown Houston,” said Kyle Valentine, Executive Managing Director & Partner at Stream. “The planned garage will allow us to meet the long-term parking needs of the campus while providing the flexibility to accommodate a broader range of tenant requirements. Combined with a modern parking experience, this investment reinforces our commitment to creating a premier workplace destination that meets the evolving needs of today’s office users.”

Work start for the garage is slated to occur in 2027.

The skyscrapers in Houston Center are located at 1221 McKinney, 909 Fannin, 1301 McKinney, and 1331 Lamar.

Brookfield Properties purchased Houston Center in 2017 and spent heavily, some sources say more than $200 million, on redevelopment. The 2 Houston Center tower received a particularly heavy-duty renovation. Brookfield Properties had also embarked on major redo of the Park Shops, the retail portion of Houston Center, and renamed it The Highlight.

Now, with a new parking garage, Houston Center’s new owners are continuing to spend to improve the multi-block complex

“The planned garage will expand the campus’ parking capacity while supporting the long-term vision for one of Downtown Houston’s most prominent multi-use office destinations,” Stream Realty Partners said in Monday’s press release.

The original developer of Houston Center was Texas Eastern, which began blocking up land in the late 1960s. After assembling 33 blocks bounded by Fannin, Rusk, Dallas and Hamilton, construction began in 1972.