posted on October 28, 2010 20:58
Hines has landed a major tenant for the speculative skyscraper it is developing downtown.
The Houston real estate company said Monday that it has signed a lease with a subsidiary of BG Group Plc for 164,000 square feet in the 972,000-square-foot MainPlace. The office building at 811 Main is scheduled for completion in 2011.
The new BG Group office will be the U.S. headquarters for the United Kingdom-based natural gas company.
The deal includes naming rights to the 46-story building, which will be known as BG Group Place.
BG Group will leave its existing Galleria area office for its new home in mid- to late-2011.
Martin Houston, an executive director of BG Group, said in a statement that the city has been important to the company since it began U.S. operations in 1989.
“We are delighted to extend our commitment to the city as we prepare for the next phase of BG Group’s growth across North America and beyond,” Houston said.
BG Group has interests in exploration and production, liquefied natural gas, transmission and distribution and power generation in 25 countries on five continents.
The natural gas company was represented in the lease deal by Tim Relyea, Joe Peddie and Jim Bailey with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. and Glenn Pinkerton of Vinson & Elkins LLP.
Chrissy Wilson and Stewart Robinson, real estate brokers with Hines, represented the landlord in lease negotiations with BG Group.
Hines is part owner of the building through the HC Green Development Fund, a partnership between the local real estate company and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).
Hines is also responsible for leasing and managing the building.
The only other tenant committed to the office tower is KPMG LLP, which plans to occupy the top four floors.
MainPlace is set to be certified at the platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design core and shell rating system.
Hines has developed some 23 projects in Houston’s Central Business District. By the time MainPlace is finished, it will have been eight years since Hines completed a building in the downtown area, 717 Texas.
Houston Business Journal, 10/25/10, Jennifer Dawson