JPMorgan Chase Tower At 600 Travis St.

[Highrise Tower]

Here's the scope of work per TDLR.

Quote

Retrofitting Level 2 and portions of Level 1 of an existing office tower as a conference center; expansion of tower entrance lobby atrium; new landscape architecture at outdoor areas (the plaza) including seating areas and planting areas

 

[CREguy13]

This area of downtown is going to transform at a rapid pace...

 

Hines lands tenant for 250K-SF lease in Houston's tallest office tower with renovations underway

   

 

By Jeff Jeffrey  – Reporter, Houston Business Journal

Jul 13, 2020, 2:23pm CDT

 

Hines has landed a major tenant for Houston's tallest office tower, which the Houston-based firm is in the process of renovating.

An unnamed financial services firm has agreed to lease 250,000 square feet of space in the 75-story office tower at 600 Travis St., which is commonly known as JPMorgan Chase Tower, according to a press release. The lease comes after Hines and an affiliate of New York-based Cerberus Capital Management teamed up to buy 600 Travis and the adjacent building at 601 Travis St., formerly known as JPMorgan Chase Center, in October.

Hines is in the midst of renovating 600 Travis, which will see significant updates to the lobby and exterior plaza; the addition of connected, collaborative workspaces; enhancements to other building common elements; and the addition of a conference center that can accommodate up to 150 people. The renovations were designed by St. Louis-based HOK, according to a news release.

“The planned changes to the building’s ground-floor plane will be some of the most transformative in our firm’s history,” Hines Senior Managing Director John Mooz said in a statement. “For several years, our team has contemplated the unique untapped potential of the building’s large plaza area. The renovation takes strong advantage of that opportunity and that vision resonated with our new tenant.”

Here are some highlights of the renovations:

• The exterior plaza will be converted into an urban garden, featuring increased green space, an expanded canopy and more connections from the outdoors to the building.
• The lobby renovations will see additional retail space added, which will provide new food and beverage options to tenants.
• The renovations will also reimagine the entrance, paying homage to the building’s designer I.M. Pei, who died last year.
• The five-story curtainwall will switch from the existing current chrome and glass grid to a new trapezoidal pyramid, which will add almost 3,000 square feet to the lobby.
• The former Sky Lobby on the 60th floor will be redesigned as an exclusive “Sky Lounge” for tenants. The lounge will provide space for tenant meetings and collaboration.

Hines and Cerberus Capital Management paid an undisclosed sum to purchase 600 and 601 Travis last year in what was reported to be one of the largest property deals of 2019.

The building was valued at $473.5 million as of Jan. 1, 2020, according to Harris County Appraisal District records.

Hines continues to manage the office tower. In the lease with the unnamed financial services firm, Hines and Cerberus were represented by Michael Anderson, Diana Bridger and Margaret Elkins of Cushman & Wakefield as well as Chanse McLeod with Hunton Andrews Kurth.

[nate4l1f3]

How excite! I still wish they would re-clad the exterior but if not new then we’ll probably never see it. 

[nate4l1f3]

 

[jermh]

6 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

 

 

Thanks! I've been curious to see what HOK proposed ever since I found out they won the project. 

[jermh]

Additional renderings here, or at-least non paywalled renderings.

 

https://www.hines.com/news/hines-signs-250-000-sf-lease-at-600-travis

[TheSirDingle]

Seems we now have the *checks notes*, tallest 6 sided building in the world.  

 

This honestly looks great, chase tower always needed some more green around it. Also like the addition of the conference room, and lobby retail. Seems like they're also renovating the sky lobby.  Definitely a great remaster of the big boy. 

[nate4l1f3]

 

[Houston19514]

Looks great!  I'm eager to learn who the new new tenant is.  Hopefully a relocation from out of state.

[Montrose1100]

We get an upside down Pyramide du Lourve, even more steps with hand rails chopping up the plaza, and monkey grass? It's like the destroyed 5555 San Felipe/Marathon Tower sans the trees. Even they had the sense to get rid of it and it's the most suburban skyscraper we have.

 

I say Boo, Boo on Hines, and Boo on this (initially of course).

[H-Town Man]

Great news, but...

 

"Finally, the former Sky Lobby on the 60th floor will be redesigned as an exclusive “Sky Lounge” for tenants to enjoy. With comfortable, elegant furnishings and seating vignettes, tenants will be welcome to use this space as a “third place” for meetings and collaboration."

 

Looks like Houston's favorite sky lobby is closed to the public for good. Any hopes that Hines would bring back the civic sense that brought us that lobby in the first place are dashed.

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by H-Town Man

[nate4l1f3]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Looks great!  I'm eager to learn who the new new tenant is.  Hopefully a relocation from out of state.

I believe the article mentions that sources say it’s JP Morgan Chase, they’ll leave the offices they have at 1111 Fannin. 

[Avossos]

6 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

I believe the article mentions that sources say it’s JP Morgan Chase, they’ll leave the offices they have at 1111 Fannin. 

 

Huh? The building is no longer called Chase Tower...

 

Wouldn't it be weird if they had no offices in 600 Travis and its called Chase Tower... then the move offices TO Chase tower, but the tower drops their name!?

[nate4l1f3]

12 minutes ago, Avossos said:

 

Huh? The building is no longer called Chase Tower...

 

Wouldn't it be weird if they had no offices in 600 Travis and its called Chase Tower... then the move offices TO Chase tower, but the tower drops their name!?

 

Haha looks to be the case

[Houston19514]

24 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

I believe the article mentions that sources say it’s JP Morgan Chase, they’ll leave the offices they have at 1111 Fannin. 

 

Ahhhh, that tidbit wasn't originally in the article (apparently was added in the 4:31 PM edit.)  Good catch.

 

 

[H-Town Man]

I had a feeling this was going to be a relocation from another downtown building. Will be interesting to see if their footprint is increasing or contracting; my guess would be the latter.

 

[Houston19514]

7 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

I had a feeling this was going to be a relocation from another downtown building. Will be interesting to see if their footprint is increasing or contracting; my guess would be the latter.

 

 

Yeah, I figured that as well.  And, yes, unfortunately, most relocations (even from out of town) tend to take less space than they formerly had.  Oh well.  Still good news.

 

Bleehhhhh, it looks like they currently lease the entire building at 1111 Fannin (428,000 square feet)

Edited July 14, 2020 by Houston19514

[Montrose1100]

3 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Yeah, I figured that as well.  And, yes, unfortunately, most relocations (even from out of town) tend to take less space than they formerly had.  Oh well.  Still good news.

 

Bleehhhhh, it looks like they currently lease the entire building at 1111 Fannin (428,000 square feet)

Edit: Nevermind, blame the covid for unclear thinking.

[Houston19514]

53 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

That's bad news for One City Centre. Fingers crossed we don't get renderings for a new facade like 800 Bell.

 

It's bad news for 1111 Fannin.  Not so much for One City Centre (which is a different building, at 1021 Main).

Edited July 14, 2020 by Houston19514

[Montrose1100]

40 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

It's bad news for 1111 Fannin.  Not so much for One City Centre (which is a different building, at 1021 Main).

Idk what I was thinking. 

[H-Town Man]

3 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Yeah, I figured that as well.  And, yes, unfortunately, most relocations (even from out of town) tend to take less space than they formerly had.  Oh well.  Still good news.

 

Bleehhhhh, it looks like they currently lease the entire building at 1111 Fannin (428,000 square feet)

 

Costar shows them having only 348k SF at 1111 Fannin, expiring September 2021. 

 

The silver lining in 1111 Fannin getting vacated is that it could inspire a renovation, one which would help tie it in to what is going on across the street with GreenStreet.

 

[Houston19514]

30 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Costar shows them having only 348k SF at 1111 Fannin, expiring September 2021. 

 

The silver lining in 1111 Fannin getting vacated is that it could inspire a renovation, one which would help tie it in to what is going on across the street with GreenStreet.

 

 

I was going off of this JLL listing:  https://www.us.jll.com/en/investorcenter/office/1111-fannin-houston-tx-unitedstates

[H-Town Man]

7 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I was going off of this JLL listing:  https://www.us.jll.com/en/investorcenter/office/1111-fannin-houston-tx-unitedstates

 

I'd trust that over Costar.

 

[CREguy13]

16 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Costar shows them having only 348k SF at 1111 Fannin, expiring September 2021. 

 

The silver lining in 1111 Fannin getting vacated is that it could inspire a renovation, one which would help tie it in to what is going on across the street with GreenStreet.

 

I agree 1111 Fannin being vacated may be the bigger story. However in my opinion, the real silver lining is that the current owner buys distressed assets and I believe got this on the cheap a few years back after the previous owner defaulted on its loan.  I'd bet this will be put on the market in the not too distant future and be picked up by a major developer *cough Hines *cough.  This is one of the most desirable locations for development in CBD with its proximity to Greenstreet, Red Line station, Houston Center, Discovery Green, and Skanska mixed-use among several others.  To me this has building demo and Hines next masterpiece written all over it.

[H-Town Man]

1 hour ago, CREguy13 said:

I agree 1111 Fannin being vacated may be the bigger story. However in my opinion, the real silver lining is that the current owner buys distressed assets and I believe got this on the cheap a few years back after the previous owner defaulted on its loan.  I'd bet this will be put on the market in the not too distant future and be picked up by a major developer *cough Hines *cough.  This is one of the most desirable locations for development in CBD with its proximity to Greenstreet, Red Line station, Houston Center, Discovery Green, and Skanska mixed-use among several others.  To me this has building demo and Hines next masterpiece written all over it.

 

The sale price in 2018 was $52 million, although apparently not arm's-length, but likely near the value. That comes to around $875 a foot of land, which is still far away from demolition territory - I think Skanska paid around $300/SF for their blocks. And demo would cost a lot for this building. I also don't think this part of downtown is that hot due to the homeless and lots of Class B buildings. Greenstreet has yet to show real signs of life and the attempted redevelopment of the Sakowitz garage went nowhere. You still have ugly food stores in mummified buildings on Main. This building could be some sort of innovation incubator, but downtown might be getting maxed out on those. Someone is going to have to get creative.

 

I don't understand why JPMorgan would put their back offices in a building like this, then bring them back to the tallest building in the city and demand a renovation. What are they doing? Has the area slipped that much that they can make a quality jump like that?

 

[J.A.]

1 hour ago, H-Town Man said:

 

The sale price in 2018 was $52 million, although apparently not arm's-length, but likely near the value. That comes to around $875 a foot of land, which is still far away from demolition territory - I think Skanska paid around $300/SF for their blocks. And demo would cost a lot for this building. I also don't think this part of downtown is that hot due to the homeless and lots of Class B buildings. Greenstreet has yet to show real signs of life and the attempted redevelopment of the Sakowitz garage went nowhere. You still have ugly food stores in mummified buildings on Main. This building could be some sort of innovation incubator, but downtown might be getting maxed out on those. Someone is going to have to get creative.

 

I don't understand why JPMorgan would put their back offices in a building like this, then bring them back to the tallest building in the city and demand a renovation. What are they doing? Has the area slipped that much that they can make a quality jump like that?

 

I may be thinking this because of my recent post about the storm damaged Chase Tower in reference to the looks of the Arabella, but did they move offices to 1111 Fannin after Hurricane Ike blew out a lot of the windows and ravaged the interiors? The timing seems like it could be about right but I honestly have no clue. Either way it looks like Chase regretted the move from the tallest building in the city to 1111 Fannin (for obvious reasons). My guess is that Hines courted Chase (and probably others) by dangling this renovation in front of them rather than the prospective new tenants demanding it...

Edited July 15, 2020 by J.A.

[H-Town Man]

11 minutes ago, J.A. said:

I may be thinking this because of my recent post about the storm damaged Chase Tower in reference to the looks of the Arabella, but did they move offices to 1111 Fannin after Hurricane Ike blew out a lot of the windows and ravaged the interiors? The timing seems like it could be about right but I honestly have no clue. Either way it looks like Chase regretted the move from the tallest building in the city to 1111 Fannin (for obvious reasons). My guess is that Hines courted Chase (and probably others) by dangling this renovation in front of them rather than the prospective new tenants demanding it...

 

I tend to look at leases as, if there is a renovation or significant TI allowance, it was demanded by the tenant. If it was needed to get the deal done, there is no difference between that and a demand. Just like Tesla is right now demanding that Travis County and state government fork over tax credits.

 

Interesting about Hurricane Ike, I did not realize that. Is Locke Liddell & Sapp (or whatever they're called now) still a major tenant there?

 

[J.A.]

1 hour ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I tend to look at leases as, if there is a renovation or significant TI allowance, it was demanded by the tenant. If it was needed to get the deal done, there is no difference between that and a demand. Just like Tesla is right now demanding that Travis County and state government fork over tax credits.

 

Interesting about Hurricane Ike, I did not realize that. Is Locke Liddell & Sapp (or whatever they're called now) still a major tenant there?

 

100% True: High end tenants are demanding better buildings. And I'm glad they are so we get to see all the transformative renovations their demands are leading to all over downtown: Allen Center, Houston Center, and I guess to some extent... 700 Louisiana (disappointed in that one). I wonder if in turn Hines, Brookfield etc. aren't also demanding higher rent, though?

 

Quick google search: Locke Liddell & Sapp now appears to be Locke Lord still in Chase Tower.

 

On another note: I like where this renovation is going overall but I wonder about the little covered area ('expanded canopy' ?) facing the Travis/Capitol intersection. There's no good rendered view of it, yet... But, right now it seems like it could look diminutive and tacked on abutted as it is directly to a building that slams all of its 75 floors from top to bottom directly into the ground without any setbacks. Wouldn't a retail pavilion similar in concept to what they're doing at Texas Tower be better? Or would that compete with the Louvre (but really Pennzoil Place) referencing lobby addition? When I worked in the Pennzoil building several years back, only smokers, cabbies, and the occasional cell phone user were ever in Chase Tower plaza (and only in the shaded area). Hopefully, this goes far enough to change that.

[H-Town Man]

3 minutes ago, J.A. said:

On another note: I like where this renovation is going overall but I wonder about the little covered area ('expanded canopy' ?) facing the Travis/Capitol intersection. There's no good rendered view of it, yet... But, right now it seems like it could look diminutive and tacked on abutted as it is directly to a building that slams all of its 75 floors from top to bottom directly into the ground without any setbacks. Wouldn't a retail pavilion similar in concept to what they're doing at Texas Tower be better? Or would that compete with the Louvre (but really Pennzoil Place) referencing lobby addition? When I worked in the Pennzoil building several years back, only smokers, cabbies, and the occasional cell phone user were ever in Chase Tower plaza (and only in the shaded area). Hopefully, this goes far enough to change that.

 

It is also the main hangout spot for downtown bike couriers, or was last time I checked. The blue collar use of the plaza might be in danger now that the white collar folks have decided they can handle going outside where there's no air-conditioning, loud street noises, people who don't look like them, etc. But as this and other renovations show, tenants will not emerge from the building unless there is a very nice outdoor plaza with a strong sense of separation between their space and the public space, sort of like the adult version of the old McDonald's playgrounds. It is really the private environment extended outdoors rather than a public environment. But it will look nice, and non-tenants like myself will traipse through.

 

[HoustonIsHome]

Renovations revealed for Houston's 600 Travis, the tallest tower in Texas, along with major deal

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/texas-inc/amp/Renovations-for-tallest-tower-in-Texas-revealed-15407411.php