The U.S. subsidiary of the global business enterprise Mitsubishi Corp. is moving to a different building in Downtown Houston and expanding its footprint.

Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) leased about 92K SF at 1100 Louisiana, maintaining its Downtown Houston presence after nearly 50 years in the area, according to a press release from Partners Real Estate.

Mitsubishi International Corp. previously leased about 46K SF across two floors at 1221 McKinney St., known as 1 Houston Center, per Realty News Report. CIMA Energy, another Mitsubishi subsidiary, also leases a floor at 1 Houston Center, and both will vacate for the new space at 1100 Louisiana, said Tim Relyea, executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield who represented the tenant.

“Houston is a critical hub for us, and this move to 1100 Louisiana represents an important investment in our team and our future here,” Shuji Kobayashi, general manager of the Houston branch for Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), said in a statement.

The company will occupy floors 31 through 34 of 1100 Louisiana, the 1.3M SF, 55-story office tower developed by Hines in 1980. Fantome Tower LP owns 1100 Louisiana as well as major Downtown Houston office buildings 910 Louisiana and 811 Louisiana, formerly known as One and Two Shell Plaza.

Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) will add to a “roster of incredible tenants” at 1100 Louisiana, said Mark D. Janssen, Fantome Tower LP's vice president of asset management. Partners’ Win Haggard and Diana Bridger represented the landlord.

The 92K SF lease was the largest office lease in Houston executed last quarter, Savills told Bisnow by email. Another notable lease in Q2 was Superior Energy's 56K SF lease at 8020 Katy Freeway, according to a Savills report.

Mitsubishi’s lease is a good thing for the market, Relyea told Bisnow.

“There’ll be more good news coming to the market,” he said. “It will be helpful for some people. Some good news for some people may mean bad news for others, so it just depends on where you stand around every deal these days.”

The central business district still has a higher availability rate than Houston as a whole, 29.9% and 26.6%, respectively. But it has the highest average rental rate of any Houston submarket at $41.23 per SF, Savills reports.

Downtown Houston is also seeing significant street-level investment, including the $50M repositioning of 910 Louisiana.

UPDATE, JULY 10, 1:12 P.M. CT: This article has been updated to reflect the Mitsubishi lease being executed in Q2, according to Savills.