DeBartolo Starts Office-to-Resi Conversion in Houston

A vacant office high-rise in West Houston’s Energy Corridor is getting new life as apartments.

A venture of Florida-based DeBartolo Development and local investor John Quinlan are converting the former ConocoPhillips and BP building at 550 Westlake Park Boulevard into a 311-unit apartment building, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Quinlan bought the 19-story building for $21 million in an online auction in 2022 and later sold it to the venture between his firm and DeBartolo. The conversion is underway, and it’s expected to be completed in late 2025.

The apartment building will include coworking spaces, a gameroom, a yoga and fitness center and a bike storage room. The developers are extending elevators and stairs to the rooftop, where there will be amenities such as a pool and grilling areas. Some ground-floor units will have private patios.

Each apartment is designed to have operable windows, ensuring ample natural light and ventilation. The wide floorplates — a characteristic that developers seek when eyeing office-to-residential candidates — allow for innovative repurposing, with plans for utility rooms in most units, some two-bedroom floor plans and storage units.

“It will feel like a combination of a luxury hotel and a luxury condominium,” DeBartolo president Edward Kobel told the outlet. “There will be cool amenities like you’d have in a high-rise downtown, but for the rent prices of a low-rise building. It’s an incredible value proposition.”

The project not only meets the growing demand for housing in West Houston but also aligns with broader national trends of repurposing vacant office space into residences.

In downtown Houston, where the office vacancy rate is 25 percent, city officials are exploring a tax-incentive program to spark more office-to-residential conversions.

While Houston’s office sector continues to struggle amid the remote-work era, the Energy Corridor has enjoyed a slew of lease signings since last year. Engineering and construction firm Fluor recently added about 104,700 square feet to its lease at Two Eldridge, a 14-story Class A office building that’s now 95 percent leased.

Plus, French engineering and technology company Technip Energies leased 171,600 square feet across six floors in the 14-story West Memorial Place II last spring.

—Quinn Donoghue