LyondellBasell is moving its U.S. headquarters out of downtown’s LyondellBasell Tower and downsizing slightly, though its new lease is still the largest inked in Houston so far this year.

CBRE announced the Netherlands-based chemical company signed on for a slightly smaller lease in the Galleria area’s Williams Tower, and LyondellBasell confirmed to the Houston Business Journal it will be vacating its current spot by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

Its lease renewal for 358K SF in the building at 1221 McKinney St., one of the four towers that comprise Brookfield Properties’ Houston Center, in 2012 led to the building’s renaming.

The new lease at Williams Tower is for about 319K SF. The 64-story building at 2800 Post Oak Blvd. has 1.4M SF of office space and is the city's largest building outside of downtown.

“The decision is due to the company’s new office work landscape, which has changed dramatically over the past few years ― including the adoption of a more flexible work policy,” the company said in a statement to HBJ. “A new, modern designed workplace will better connect employees to our businesses, products and customers, promote collaboration and team interaction, and provide a variety of different work areas.”

The move aligns with the flight-to-quality and rightsizing trends seen across the Houston office market, which have pushed more and more companies west. Last year, pipeline operator Enbridge vacated 600K SF of office space in the Galleria area to sublease 293K SF in the Energy Corridor.

More recently, some energy companies have stayed put downtown. Last month, Chord Energy renewed its 103K SF lease at 1001 Fannin, which serves as its headquarters. Black Stone Minerals Co. renewed its 55K SF lease at the same building in a space that also serves as its headquarters. They have both been in the building for more than a decade.

LyondellBasell employs about 1,000 people in Houston, ranking 17th on HBJ’s 2023 Largest Houston-Area Energy Employers List.

CBRE’s Craig Beyer and Kevin Saxe represented the tenant, and CBRE’s Nina Seyyedin and Warren Savery represented the landlord, Invesco Real Estate.