Engineering firm to relocate in The Woodlands
Jones|Carter, a Houston-based civil engineering firm, will consolidate its offices in The Woodlands to a new space in the Sierra Pines II building.
The company, which leased 27,025 square feet, will move into offices on the fourth and first floors of the six-story building at 1575 Sawdust Road in June.
Jones|Carter will relocate from two single-story buildings on Research Forest Drive where there was no room to expand, said Derrell Curry, executive vice president and Houston co-branch manager of Savills Studley.
“When you move into a larger building, there are more opportunities for growth and expansion as the need arises,” Curry said.
Brad Fricks of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, a partnership between VEREIT and Stream Realty. The deal brings the 153,809-square-foot building, which is home to Veriforce and London Offshore, to 61 percent leased.
“Jones|Carter was forthright and well-versed in what they were looking for — quality of the building, competitiveness of deal and ownership was all very important,” Brad Fricks, senior vice president of Stream, said in an announcement.
When Stream Realty broke ground on Sierra Pines II in 2013, The Woodlands’ office market was near full occupancy. Today, there’s a surplus of available space as new buildings have been completed as energy companies have contracted.
Owners of five buildings courted the engineering firm, which signed a deal in Sierra Pines II in late 2016, Curry said. He declined to provide details on any concessions.
“It was a perfect time for Jones|Carter to be in the market,” Curry said. “Since we did the transaction, the market has actually improved. We would not get the same deal we got then today.”
Availability for the top class of office space in The Woodlands reached 27.9 percent in the fourth quarter, a 3.4 percent drop from the previous quarter and a 5.8 percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Savills Studley. The rate factors in sublease space.
Savills Studley recently negotiated other leases for Jones|Carter in Austin as well as its headquarters relocation to 6330 West Loop South in 2015. The company has other area offices at 22330 Merchants Way in Katy and 6415 Reading Road in Rosenberg. The Woodlands office will house 110 of its 350 Houston-area employees.
Founded in 1976, Jones|Carter provides engineering services involving projects such as water, government infrastructure, community development, site development, planning and surveying. The company is led by President and CEO Bob Aylward. katherine.feser@chron.com twitter.com/kfeser