A TALL ORDER
600 Travis, the tallest tower in Texas, lands a large tenant.
The tallest office tower in Texas, 600 Travis, has signed a 250,000-square-foot lease with a financial services firm.
The 75-story downtown tower, which recently kicked off a previously planned modernization, was said by Houston real estate sources to have signed JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chase has been considering options to replace its location at downtown’s 1111 Fannin building since before the pandemic. Its 350,000-square-foot lease there expires in September 2021. Company representatives declined to comment.
Hines and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, which acquired the property along with the neighboring 601 Travis last year, declined to comment on the tenant other than to say it was a financial services firm.
The lease would mark a reunion for Hines and JPMorgan Chase. Hines developed the five-sided polished gray granite tower with Texas Commerce Bancshares, later acquired by Chase, as the lead tenant in 1982. Chase was a major tenant there until 2006 and kept a presence in the lobby until December 2018. The building, designed by I.M. Pei & Partners, was known as JPMorgan Chase Tower.
The deal is the largest to be announced yet by present ownership and is the biggest new downtown lease of 2020. Terms were not disclosed.
The lease pushes occupancy of the building toward 90 percent, said John Mooz, senior managing director of Hines. He said the financial services firm will occupy nearly 15 percent of the 1.7 million-square-foot tower as its largest tenant. The next largest are Locke Lord, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Winstead.
Michael Anderson, Diana Bridger, and Margaret Elkins of Cushman & Wakefield, along with Chanse McLeod with Hunton Andrews Kurth, represented the landlord.
Companies that are financially stable and in a position to secure a lease will benefit from the current leasing environment, said Ariel Guerrero, senior vice president of research at commercial real estate firm Madison Marquette, which as not involved in the transaction.
Chase likely secured the lease for below the building’s quoted annual rates of $28.50 to $31.50 per square foot, Guerrero said.
The lease is a positive sign for Houston’s office market, which has taken hits recently with reduced demand due to the drop in oil prices and fewer leases deals as companies work through uncertainty surrounding their long-term space needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Architecture firm HOK is handling a comprehensive revitalization of the property that will bring sweeping changes not only to the way the 600 Travis looks, but how it is used. A dramatic trapezoidal glass pyramid entry, which pays homage to Pei’s addition to the Louvre in Paris, will replace the fivestory chrome and glass grid entry, adding almost 3,000 square feet to the lobby.
The plaza has been designed as an urban garden with Joan Miró's “Personage and Birds” sculpture remaining as a focal point.
The renovations will incorporate collaborative work areas, a conference center with capacity for 150 people over two floors, including a gallery space on the lobby level, and enhanced building security. The former Sky Lobby on the 60th floor will be redesigned as “Sky Lounge” for the exclusive use of tenants.
The renovations at 600 Travis are planned for completion in the third quarter of 2021.