Engineering Firm Leases More Office Space to Accommodate 300 New Hires, Market briefs

The 1700 West Loop South building in Houston was purchased in 2017 by Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners.

In Houston, Burns & McDonnell, an engineering, architecture and construction firm, has expanded its lease at 1700 West Loop South, enabling the company to hire an additional 300 employees by 2021.

The transaction grows the company’s square footage by 60,000 SF, from 158,000 SF up to 218,000 SF.

JLL’s Scott Fikes and Jenny Mueller represented the building owner, Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners, LLC, a Richmond, Virginia-based commercial real estate investment firm.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Joe Peddie represented Burns & McDonnell in the lease.

“With our expansion, we’ll continue to look for top-notch talent to deliver world-class solutions and expand our broad one-stop shop capabilities in environmental, engineering, procurement and construction delivery,” said Leslie Duke, president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in Houston.

Burns & McDonnell’s Houston operation is backed by a global team of 7,000 employees with more than 50 offices around the world, including regional offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Lingerfelt CommonWealth purchased the West Loop building in June 2017, in a transaction handled by JLL.

“Since acquiring the building approximately two years ago, it has been a pleasure working with Burns & McDonnell. They are a valued tenant and we are thrilled to grow our relationship with them long term,” said Jay Kraft, senior vice president of Lingerfelt CommonWealth. “This significant deal only adds to our confidence in the Houston market and we’re looking forward pursing additional purchase opportunities.”