Pacific Life renovating office building it bought in foreclosure

Pacific Life Insurance Company plans to revitalize the Houston office building it recently retook in foreclosure.

The 20-story Four Westlake Park, located at 200 Westlake Park Boulevard, is expected to undergo a slew of “first-class renovations” to the lobby and conference rooms, as well as construction of a fitness center, according to a news release from JLL. 

The updates are designed to keep the property competitive in the Energy Corridor and attract new tenants. 

The 588,000-square-foot building sold in foreclosure for $30 million, less than half of the $70 million loan that Treeview Real Estate Advisors used to acquire it in 2020, and a fraction of the building’s $86 million appraisal value.

Connie O’Murray of JLL has been tapped as property manager, while JLL’s Tyler Garrett and  Matt Pruitt are in charge of leasing.

The building held BP’s North American headquarters until it put the full building up for sublease in 2016. BP’s lease expired in June.

Despite a downward trend in large tenants, the Energy Corridor made up 40 percent of the top 10 largest leasing transactions in the third quarter, primarily due to corporate relocations and lease renewals. Meanwhile, Metronational and Moody Rambin are set to bring two new developments, totaling 350,000 square feet, to the Energy Corridor this quarter. 

In 2019, Three Westlake Park, another office within the 58-acre Westlake Park corridor, faced a similar fate. It reverted to its lender and subsequently sold at a $67 million loss last year. Struggles within Westlake Park present a stark contrast to the broader West Houston area, which has undergone a resurgence in leasing activity. Robust leasing activity in the past year has propelled West Houston to one of the strongest submarkets in the country, according to JLL. It saw a 42 percent increase in total transaction volume year-over-year.

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