Hines Acquires 400 KSF Chesapeake Plaza in Fort Worth

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

There has been a small hole in Hines’ vast Texas portfolio — until now. In a deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp., the international real estate firm just acquired the 410,000-square-foot Chesapeake Plaza office building, giving the Houston-based real estate giant one property in Fort Worth.

Hines acquired Chesapeake Plaza on behalf of the Hines US Office Value Added Venture III. Neither Hines nor Chesapeake is talking dollar signs, but the property last traded for $104 million, when Chesapeake snapped up the asset in 2008.

Carrying the address of 100 Energy Way, Chesapeake Plaza occupies 14 acres along the Trinity River. The 20-story tower is quite a catch; it’s a trophy property and it’s fully leased, too. Chesapeake has been sharing the Duda/Paine Architects-designed building with Pier 1 Imports, which had developed the property as its headquarters for $90 million in 2004.

The transaction marks something of a homecoming for Pier 1. Although the company has occupied the building continuously since day one, the name on the tower was changed to Chesapeake Plaza upon its sale to Chesapeake Energy 10 years ago. Now the tower will be renamed the Pier 1 Imports Building. The home furnishings company plans to continue to stay put in its 313,000 square feet of space for the long term.