BFIN Sells Office Campus in Houston for $90M

Park Towers. Image courtesy of Mabry Campbell

Regent Properties has snapped up the half-empty Park Towers in Houston for $89.5 million. The Los Angeles-based real estate development and investment management firm plans to continue upgrading the 545,242-square-foot, 18-story Class A office towers that underwent a $16 million makeover two years ago.

Regent purchased the twin towers in Houston’s Uptown market from Brookfield Financial, which had acquired the office buildings from TPMC Realty when it fell behind on loan payments. In December 2018, Brookfield Financial had assumed the $60 million outstanding balance of a $120 million portfolio loan, held by Deutsche Bank that was originated in May 2015, according to Yardi Matrix data. That loan also included an 88,586-square-foot theater at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace.

The new acquisition was funded by two four-year loans both originated by Pacific Coast Capital Partners. The North Tower’s loan was $42.8 million and the South Tower’s loan was $42.7 million, according to Yardi Matrix data. The loans will mature in 2023.

Located at the northeast corner of I-610/West Loop and Post Oak Boulevard, the towers were developed in the early 1970s by Tenneco. TPMC Realty, partnering with an insurance company, bought the property in 2008. Between 2016 and 2017, the buildings underwent a complete renovation. An earlier redevelopment had occurred in 2000.

Regent said the assets have a state-of-the-art fitness center, conference center and luxury concierge-style lobby. The recent modernization upgraded the lobby and corridor finishes, added luxury restrooms, destination dispatch elevators and system upgrades that earned the property LEED EB Gold and Energy Star certifications.

Eric Fleiss, Regent CEO, said in a prepared statement the firm will be bringing new food services amenities to the buildings and will also implement its hands-on management approach. The buildings have a total of 270,000 square feet of space available for lease, including a contiguous block that contains 120,000 square feet. Fleiss said the project is a perfect example of Regent’s value-add investment strategy, noting the firm is known for identifying value-add properties with long-term growth potential.

Transwestern Commercial Services will provide agency leasing services to Regent. The TCS team includes Doug Little, David Baker, Kelli Gault and Jack Schamberg.

Regent’s Texas presence

Founded in 1989, Regents and its principals have acquired, developed, financed and/or managed more than $3 billion in real estate transactions nationally. The firm’s portfolio has more than 21 million square feet of retail, commercial, residential and mixed-use projects and 13,000 acres of master-planned communities. Assets under management as of June 30 totaled more than $1 billion.

Regent’s other Texas holdings include Legacy Central in Plano, Texas, a mixed-use campus with more than 1 million square feet of office space. In May 2018, Peloton, a fitness technology firm, signed a 27,518-square-foot lease at 6600 Chase Oaks Blvd., a 200,000-square-foot building at the technology-oriented campus.

The Peloton deal came one month after Samsung leased 216,000 square feet at Building 4 within the office campus. The electronics giant had planned to relocate more than 1,000 employees to the Regent-owned campus from its Richardson, Texas, location.