Leasing, not owning
BP sells one of its Energy Corridor building, but its workers are staying put.
Woodbranch Investments Corp. has purchased Helios Plaza, one of BP’s office buildings in the Energy Corridor.
BP, which put the 390,000-square-foot building at 201 Helios Way up for sale in August, will continue to occupy it under a lease agreement. The building was constructed in 2010 to house its trading operations. About 1,100 people work in the building, which contains BP’s energy marketing and trading operations, upstream learning center, and wind energy business.
BP confirmed the sale on Friday but declined to provide further details.
BP, which employs about 5,000 in Houston, has been consolidating its footprint. Employees completed the move out of Westlake Four, which is on the market for sublease, earlier this year. New York-based Falcon Real Estate Investment Management owns Westlake Four.
The company now owns two buildings on its west Houston campus.
The bulk of BP’s employees are now in Westlake One, a 949,000-square-foot tower at 501 Westlake Park Blvd. and the largest of the buildings on the campus. BP also owns and occupies the Center for High Performance Computing.
Nearby, BP has offices for its lower 48 onshore division at Three Eldridge Place. The division is relocating to Denver but will keep about 200 employees in Houston.
Woodbranch Investments, a Houston real estate firm, recently finished Market Square Tower, a 40-story downtown apartment building.