A chemical company has signed Houston’s largest office lease so far this year in a headquarters relocation.
LyondellBasell Industries will move its U.S. headquarters to Invesco Real Estate’s Williams Tower at 2800 Post Oak Boulevard in the Galleria area, occupying 318,000 square feet in the 64-story Williams Tower, the Houston Business Journal reported.
CBRE brokers Craig Beyer and Kevin Saxe represented Netherlands-based LyondellBasell in the deal, while Nina Seyyedin and Warren Saver, also of CBRE, represented Invesco. LyondellBasell plans to relocate to the site by late 2024 or early 2025.
“The decision is due to the company’s new office work landscape, which has changed dramatically over the past few years ― including the adoption of a more flexible work policy,” a company spokesperson told the outlet.
LyondellBasell, whose CEO is Peter Vanacker, currently operates in its namesake tower, a 46-story building constructed in 1978, at 1221 McKinney Street. The company renewed its lease for 358,000 square feet in 2012.
Houston’s office sector endured a brutal stretch in the first quarter of 2023, as leasing fell by nearly 29 percent, amounting to 7.6 million square feet available for lease.
The move also mirrors the trend of companies favoring newly built or renovated buildings to lure employees back to the office instead of working remotely. Invesco recently invested over $3 million in upgrades at the 64-story Williamson Tower, which was developed by Hines in 1983, mainly focusing on lobby area improvements, the outlet said.
Invesco, led by R. Scott Dennis, bought Williams Tower for $412 million in 2013. It’s the largest building in Houston outside of the central business district.
—Quinn Donoghue
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