Real Estate Law Firm Buys Houston Office Building

Houston’s slumping office market created an opportunity for a real estate law firm.

Porter Law Firm and local real estate management firm LandPark Advisors are buying the 16-story office building at 2603 Augusta Drive, Bisnow reported. Porter will move its headquarters into 17,000 square feet, a full floor within the 245,000-square-foot building. LandPark also plans to move into a full floor.

The building, in the Galleria area, is less than 50 percent leased, and the seller was Galveston-based American National Insurance Company.

The law firm, led by owner Brad Porter, will exit 2221 South Voss Road. That 11,000-square-foot building is owned by Houston-based real estate investment firm Bridgewell, where Porter is a managing principal.

The firms’ investment comes as the Houston office leasing market hit its lowest point in a decade last quarter.

The price wasn’t disclosed, but Porter implied it was a bargain, saying, “this asset type is very much on sale.”

“It is always a little scary to run into a burning building when everyone else is running out … but I looked at it as being an opportunity, and I had a need as well,” he said.

LandPark and Porter have worked together for over a decade.

The building’s amenities include an updated tenant lounge, bourbon lockers, a fitness center and 24-hour security. The buyers plan to add amenities such as a pickleball court and golf simulator as part of a strategy to attract tenants.

Leasing efforts will focus on smaller businesses looking to adjust their office needs, which could protect the building from losing most of its revenue if it had one or two massive tenants that were to move out, Porter said.

Since going under contract, LandPark Advisors has secured several leases for the building.

— Andrew Terrell