Texas: Law Firm Moving to the Tallest Tower

In Houston, The Yetter Coleman law firm has leased 43,906 SF feet of downtown office space in the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Tower, a 75-story skyscraper that is known far and wide as the tallest building in Texas.

CBRE’s Jon Lee and Claire Douthit represented the law firm which will occupy floors 53 and 54 in the downtown tower that is situated on a block bounded by Travis, Milam, Texas, and Capitol streets.

The 1.7 million-SF building, clad in gray granite, was designed by I.M. Pei and completed by Hines in 1982. About four years ago, the tower was upgraded with a glass pyramid entry that resonates with Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre museum in Paris.

The JPMorgan office tower, 600 Travis St., was named after Texas Commerce Bank when it opened. With the 75-story leading the way, this section of downtown Houston became a pallete for the skyline artistry of Mr. Gerald D. Hines, who was becoming known as one of the world’s great high-rise developers. In nearby blocks, Hines developed multiple skyscrapers and two high-rise residential towers.

The Yetter Coleman law firm is moving out of one of those nearby Hines buildings, the 46-story 811 Main, in order to relocate to the JPMorgan Chase Tower.

The Yetter Coleman firm has been growing, CBRE said, and there was not enough empty space in 811 Main to accommodate them.

Although Houston’s overall office vacancy rate is high, space in the best Class A office towers can be difficult to find in prime downtown buildings like the JPMorgan Chase tower.

“Opportunities like this are increasingly rare in Houston’s central business district,” said Lee, Executive Vice President at CBRE. “With no new construction expected for the next several years and a stable Class A inventory, securing high-quality, move-in-ready space at a favorable rate positions Yetter Coleman extremely well for future growth. This move places the firm alongside many of the city’s top law practices and financial institutions in one of the market’s premier office towers.”

Across the street from JPMorgan Chase building is Hines’ 46-story Texas Tower, a 1.2 million-SF tower that opened at the end of 2021. About a year ago, on March 12, 2025, Hines reported that that Texas Tower was 99% occupied. Considering that the world was just emerging from the Covid era when the building was completed, the pace of leasing up the new Texas Tower was not only remarkable, but it also demonstrated the strong demand for prime Class AA office properties.

Footnote: Although the 75-story JPMorgan building in downtown Houston is the Tallest Tower in Texas, a building in Austin, which is a mere 74 stories tall, is under construction.