Wideman’s Jones on Main Buy Tops Houston’s 2024 Office Sales

Houston’s office market exhibited signs of recovery this year, but deals involving large properties were still driven by tenant exits and dropping valuations.

The city’s office sector registered 821,000 square feet of positive absorption in the third quarter, the largest quarterly gains in the past six years, according to Avison Young. Large firms such as Apache and Fluor reduced their space, but that was offset by leases for smaller tenants from a diverse range of industries.

While the numbers inched up, it was too late for a few trophy properties. Some changed hands with dramatic reductions in value, with buyers swooping in to buy nearly empty properties.

TRD Data ranked the largest office deals in the city by square footage, since prices aren’t usually disclosed in Texas, using data from Newmark, CBRE and Cushman and Wakefield. The ranking should be viewed as preliminary, since larger deals may close at the last days of the year.

Here are the largest office sales in Houston this year.

708 and 712 Main Street | 810,000 square feet

Florida firm Wideman Capital bought the two-building Jones on Main office complex in May. The property includes the 34-story J.P. Morgan Chase Bank Building at 712 Main Street and the Great Jones Building at 708 Main Street. It is home to Finn Hall, one of the city’s first food halls. The seller was Lionstone Investments. It is about 70 percent leased, and Wideman plans to renovate vacant spaces in the complex, which was built between 1908 and the 1950s.

9700 Bissonet Street | 526,000 square feet

Omninet Capital sold the Southwest Corporate Center in the second quarter. The property was home to a Texas Children’s Hospital location before it closed down in June. The complex used to be a mall and a Dillard’s department store before being converted into offices. The buyer is investor Shahid Hashmi.

10603, 10613 and 10713 West Sam Houston Parkway | 392,000 square feet

Interra Capital bought Remington Square, a three-building office complex in northwest Houston, in November. As of July, the property was 77 percent leased, with tenants such as Acclara Solutions, Patterson-UTI Energy and Highland Homes. The seller is New York firm BentallGreenOak.

15011 Katy Freeway | 327,000 square feet

Invesco Real Estate sold Energy Crossing II, an eight-story Energy Corridor office property that’s 30 percent leased, in November. The buyer is Austin firm Capital Commercial Investments, which was under contract this summer to buy another Energy Corridor asset— the Offices at Greenhouse — for $17.6 million.

575 North Dairy Ashford Road | 306,000 square feet

Goddard Investments bought Energy Center II, a 12-story Energy Corridor property that houses Baker Hughes’ global headquarters, in the second quarter. The property was listed in January after its valuation dropped to $51 million (down from $63 million in 2020). The seller was American Realty Advisors.