Rightsized Already: Energy Company Renews 221K SF Lease In Downtown Houston
Supporting the theory that downsizing could be on its way out, Motiva Enterprises renewed its 221K SF lease at One Allen Center, a Brookfield Properties office tower at 500 Dallas St. in Houston.
The renewal extends the current lease for the energy company, a downstream subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Motiva also expanded its lease at One Allen Center in 2017.
The renewal marks Houston's biggest lease of the first quarter, which saw the market lose 233K SF of office occupancy, according to JLL's Q1 Houston office report.
One Allen Center is part of the three-building Allen Center campus Downtown. Brookfield finished renovating it in 2021, adding modernized lobbies, common areas and connections to outdoor spaces.
Freeport LNG, another energy company, expanded its 57K SF lease by 9K SF for a new footprint of about 66K SF at Three Allen Center in December. Freeport LNG has maintained its office in Three Allen Center since its founding in 2002.
In March 2024, law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka completed a $6M renovation of its headquarters at Two Allen Center. It extended its 55K SF lease through 2035.
While federal lease terminations drove 8M SF of national office occupancy losses in the first quarter, downsizing rates have dramatically improved, according to JLL.
Larger tenants trimmed just 6.6% of space upon lease expirations over the past year, the report says.
About 37% of tenants anticipated downsizing last year, down from 53% the previous year, the lowest level since 2021, according to a CBRE report.
Less downsizing combined with return-to-office mandates that are forcing some large occupiers into expansion mode should lead to considerably less occupancy loss for the rest of 2025, JLL said.
Motiva Enterprises was represented by Tim Relyea and Joe Peddie of Cushman & Wakefield. Brookfield Properties was represented by Bubba Harkins, Kristen Rabel and Jenny Sealy of CBRE and Tyler Merritt of Brookfield Properties.
