A law firm lease will bring Hines’ Texas Tower to 99 percent leased.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom leased 52,000 square feet spanning two full floors at 845 Texas Avenue, the Houston Business Journal reported. The lease will begin in April 2026, but the terms weren’t otherwise disclosed.
The deal leaves just 18,000 square feet available in the 47-story, 1.2 million-square-foot tower, which is co-owned by Houston-based Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge. Savills’ Mark O’Donnell represented the tenant, and Michael Anderson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlords.
The lease follows Hines’ landing a rare $450 million refinancing earlier this month, marking the first time in two years a multi-tenant office tower outside New York City was financed through the CMBS single-asset, single-borrower market.
Skadden will move from its 24,000-square-foot space at 1000 Louisiana Street, Wells Fargo Plaza.
That 71-story tower was built in 1983. Its owner, MetLife, plans to spend $138,000 to remodel its 900-square-foot amenity space for an arcade game room to lure tenants after adding a golf simulator last year. It is also adding a restaurant, bar and tenant lounge, according to the building’s website.
Texas Tower opened in 2021 and is among the city’s most leased Class A office towers. Other tenants, with Hines’ global headquarters, include law firms Vinson & Elkins, Clifford Chance and DLA Piper as well as Cheniere Energy, Morgan Stanley and coworking space The Square.
The tower includes two restaurants managed by Berg Hospitality Group. The Sylvie, a French bistro, opened last year. Seafood restaurant Dune Road was set to open last year but hasn’t yet delivered.
It also features amenities like underfloor air conditioning, private terraces and a 9,600-square-foot amenity center with a lounge and conference space.
The tower’s leasing success highlights the “flight-to-quality” trend, Hines senior managing director John Mooz said.
Class A inventory has tightened in the city as tenants opt to lease where amenities are enticing enough to lure and retain workers. Older buildings have suffered as a result. The office vacancy rate remains high; it was up to 25.7 percent in the fourth quarter, according to CoStar.
Houston’s office pipeline has 1.9 million square feet of space under development, about tied with Los Angeles as of January, according to data from CommercialEdge cited by CommercialCafe. Dallas has 2.8 million square feet underway, and Austin has 3.6 million, the second-most in the nation behind Boston.
The drop in office output from previous years across southern markets will likely have a positive effect on occupancy rates, especially as more employers initiate return-to-office mandates, the site said.
— Judah Duke
Read more
Hines’ Texas Tower lands rare $450M refinancing deal
Energy Corridor widens lead among Houston office submarkets
Law firm spends $4M on buildout as Skanska targets flight-to-quality
