New Mass Timber Building: Leasing Strong at

In Houston, One Bridgeland Green, Greater Houston’s first mass timber office building, is leasing up quickly, an indication that the demand for sustainable buildings is high in today’s office market.

“One Bridgeland Green achieving 80 percent lease occupancy just three months after breaking ground is a testament to businesses’ desire to provide their employees with a higher quality of life, whether through sustainable development practices, proximity to nature, access to highly acclaimed schools, or world class amenities and neighborhoods,” said Jim Carman, President of the Houston Region for Howard Hughes Holdings. “Mirroring our success with developing The Woodlands, Bridgeland Central is poised to emerge as an innovative urban district that will continue to offer top-tier office space, along with retail, dining, entertainment options, and residences, all within a walkable settjng.

Building Green: It’s Like Taking 2,000 Cars Off the Road

Building green has become a top priority in recent years as carbon emissions are a major concern building.

With mass timber construction, wooden components are used extensively instead of concrete and steel, the savings can be significant. In the construction process, timber generates around 50 percent lower CO2 emissions than concrete. In addition, timber delivers a higher insulation value.

Timber is abundant. Every 20 minutes, North America grows enough timber to build a mid-rise timber office building.

In terms of carbon capture, a timber building has a negative carbon imprint equal to taking 2,000 gas-powered cars off the road for one year.

The use of expose wood in interior workplaces delivers a sense of warmth and well being for employees, proponents say. Lake Flato Architects is the design architect of One Bridgeland Green and Kirksey is the Architect of Record.

Leasing Strong at New Mass Timber Building in Bridgeland. Rendering:Courtesy Howard Hughes Holdings

Two Tenants Signed for Heavy Timber Building in Bridgeland

Howard Hughes Holdings reported that CrossCover Insurance, Advanced Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, and Howard Hughes’ Bridgeland office will be the inaugural tenants of the mass timber One Bridgeland Green building.

The two leases bring One Bridgeland Green to 80 percent occupancy. The mass timber building has 50,000 SF of office space.

CrossCover Insurance leased 8,600-SF in One Bridgeland Green will serve as the firm’s new corporate headquarters.Advanced Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine also leased space in the mass timber building.

The Bridgeland Welcome Center will be relocated from its current location to One Bridgeland Green building along with office space for the Howard Hughes development team.

10,000-Gallon Cistern

Designed to pursue LEED Gold and Fitwel certifications, One Bridgeland Green is slated to reduce annual energy usage by 25 percent and lower municipal water consumption by 80 percent, based on building modeling and projected usage calculations. This is aided by a 10,000-gallon rainwater harvesting cistern which will recycle rainwater and HVAC condensate, coupled with the benefits of implementing native vegetation and using water-efficient fixtures. Technological advancements, including electric vehicle charging stations and photovoltaic rooftop panels, further incorporate renewable energy into the building’s programming.

One Bridgeland Green, which broke ground in May 2024, is scheduled to open in summer 2025.

The mass timber building is part of the 70-acre multi-use development, Village Green at Bridgeland Central.

Elsewhere in Texas, on the Texas A&M campus, Hines is developing a heavy timber building with the aid of a $50 million gift from Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, the owner of Buc-ee’s chain of service stations/stores. Hines is also developing a mass timber multi-use building on the east side of Austin,

Bridgeland Leasing credits:

CrossCover was represented by Anthony Fritsche of Cresa. Advanced Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine was represented by Griff Bandy and Taylor Clayton of Partners Real Estate. Leasing for the mass timber office is overseen by Kevin Stutts with Howard Hughes and Scott Fikes and Jack Russo with JLL. Retail leasing for Village Green is overseen by Marissa Moreau with Howard Hughes and Jacob Weersing with Capital Retail Properties

Bridgeland is an 11,500-acre large-scale planned community located in the Cypress area on the northwest side of the Houston. In ranking of new home sales, Bridgeland is in the top 20 of the large-scale planned communities in the nation.

In addition to Bridgeland, Howard Hughes is the developer of The Woodlands, a 28,500-acre large-scale planned community 27 miles north of downtown Houston.