Axiom Space inks headquarters lease near NASA
Axiom Space signed a full floor lease in the Hercules II building in the Clear Lake area for relocation of its headquarters in August.
The Houston-based company was seeking a modern office with room for growth near NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
In January, the company was awarded a contract by NASA to attach a commercial module to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s plan to open the station for commercial use. When the ISS is retired, the module with a research and manufacturing facility, a crew habitat and large-windowed Earth observatory would be detached and operated as a commercial endeavor.
Derrell Curry and Noah Kruger of Savills assisted Axiom in finding an office that could be developed and modified as the project evolves and the workforce expands. The office at 1290 Hercules Ave. will have a combination of open areas and enclosed offices, lab and shop spaces.
Axiom has about 50 employees and aims to grow to 250 by the end of the year, according to Savills.
The building owner, Capital Commercial Investments, was represented by Matthew Seliger, Doug Little and Louann Pereira of Transwestern Real Estate Services. The deal is the largest in the Clear Lake submarket to be completed since the COVID-19 stay-at-home order took effect, according to Transwestern.
“We are extremely pleased to have developed a creative solution with Axiom Space, especially during the current situation with COVID-19,” said Seliger. “Despite the challenges of working from home during a global pandemic, we stayed highly focused to ensure the execution of this complicated and fastpaced transaction.”
Occupancy in the Clear Lake submarket reached 83.9 percent in the first quarter, up from 81.9 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to Transwestern.
The 31,327-square-foot lease brings the two-story building to 52 percent leased. The space has been vacant since before CCI purchased the property in 2017.
A renovation with new lobbies, elevator cabs and spec suites at the Hercules I and II buildings, helped seal the deal. The campus is less than a mile from the entry to Johnson Space Center.
“Our improved headquarters is ideal for our company’s progress and growth,” Axiom President and CEO Michael T. Suffredini said in an announcement. “The optimal location and expansion arrangement will best enable us to successfully continue our project development and research for years to come.”