Acquest to sell or lease office tower it just bought in Houston

A beleaguered office sector hasn’t stopped Acquest Development from making a big play in northwest Houston 

The New York-based firm is looking to sell or lease the vacant 20-story former Noble Energy headquarters, less than two months after acquiring the 4.7-acre property through a subsidiary, the Houston Chronicle reported. 

Along with the office tower, the offering includes an eight-story parking garage and an adjacent 25,000-square-foot meeting/sports facility off Louetta Road and Texas Highway 249. 

“We do all understand that the office market has been hurt by COVID and working from home,” Acquest’s Michael Huntress told the outlet. “What that means there is a flight to quality, which we believe the building is very, very high quality.”

Chevron inherited the site with its 2020 acquisition of Noble Energy and has relocated Noble’s employees to Chevron’s downtown offices, leaving the northwest Houston desks unoccupied.

While it’s listed for $65 million, leasing the property is a more likely outcome. Acquest is collaborating with Chevron to market the space for sublease at approximately $14 per square foot, offering a competitive rate compared to the going rate of $21 per square foot in the submarket, according to CBRE.

Houston’s office vacancy rate rose to 22.7 percent in the third quarter, with 1.5 million square feet of space becoming available, the outlet reported, citing CBRE data. Despite these challenges, Huntress is confident that the quality and location of the building will help attract companies looking to be closer to the growing labor pool in northwest Houston.

In downtown Houston, the 1.3 million-square-foot TC Energy Center went up for sale last week. Its owner, Houston-based M-M Properties, is asking $285 million for the landmark building.

—Quinn Donoghue 

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