Law firm O’Melveny & Myers moved into a 43K SF office space at the TC Energy Center in Downtown Houston. 

Rather than move to a newer corporate build, the firm with nearly 100 lawyers in Austin, Dallas and Houston custom-designed its office in the 43-year-old building at 700 Louisiana St. The space spans 43K SF across two floors and includes a central café, glass walls, natural woodwork and a lounge with a Therabody Lounger and other self-care amenities. 

“We've eagerly anticipated this day ever since our firm first established its Houston presence in 2022 with a handful of lawyers and business professionals in a temporary work space,” Garrett Johnston, managing partner of O'Melveny's Houston office, said in a statement. “Our new office is strategically designed and the perfect home for our growing Houston team, which now includes upward of 40 people — and counting.” 

Hines developed the 1.3M SF, 56-story office building formerly known as the Bank of America Center. It is one of the most recognizable parts of Houston’s skyline due to its postmodern gothic architecture and dramatic gabled roofline. 

PEOPLE

Partners Real Estate announced that Tommy LeBlanc joined the firm as an equity partner. LeBlanc joined Partners from MLB Commercial Real Estate, along with John-Michael Kamel and Blake Steele, who were hired as vice president and senior associate, respectively. 

LeBlanc brings more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience, with expertise in land brokerage and development strategy, site selection and sale-leasebacks.

SALES

Partners Capital, the investment platform of Partners Real Estate, acquired a three-property, 116K SF collection of neighborhood retail centers near the intersection of Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 290 in Northwest Houston. The Highway 6 Retail Portfolio includes Town Square Shopping Center, The Exchange Shopping Center and Boardwalk Shopping Center.

The seller, who recently modernized The Exchange and Boardwalk, was represented by JLL’s John Indelli and Zamar Salas. Partners plans to renovate Town Square. 

***

IHP Capital Partners agreed to acquire 1,458 acres in Brazoria County for the development of Peachtree, a master-planned residential community near Alvin and Liverpool. 

The first phase includes 206 acres and 535 finished single-family lots plus a recreation area with a lazy-river pool and an outdoor pavilion. The transaction agreement is structured across multiple phases, with closings scheduled about every 18 months.

At full build-out, IHP and its development partner, Texas-based Scarborough Lane Development, will deliver 3,400 finished residential lots. Peachtree is also slated to include retail, multiple parks and tree preservation and has land allocated for two future elementary schools. 

Peachtree is designed to be attainable for first- and second-time homebuyers, with primarily 40-, 50- and 60-foot-wide lots. Site work has commenced, and the initial 535 lots are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2027.

***

Hanover Co., in partnership with Transwestern Investments, sold Kirby 288 to an unnamed buyer. The 213K SF speculative cross-dock warehouse at 12150 Kirby Drive in Houston was completed in June, following Hanover and Transwestern Investments’ acquisition of the site in April 2025. 

Powers Brown Architecture served as the architect for the project. Robert McGee, Taylor Schmidt and Austin Bartula of Colliers represented Hanover.

***

Trammell Crow Co. and joint venture partner Daiwa House Texas Inc. sold Building 3 at Blue Ridge Commerce Center at 16851 Blue Ridge Commerce Drive in Houston.

The 154K SF building was sold to Applied Optoelectronics for $26.8M in early September. AOI leased 100% of the building in February. 

Blue Ridge Commerce Center's Building 3 was delivered in the fall of 2025, together with four other warehouse buildings totaling 1.3M SF. 

Last month, TCC and Daiwa House broke ground on Phase 2 of Blue Ridge Commerce Center, which will include three new buildings totaling 687K SF. Phase 2 is scheduled to deliver in the spring of 2027.

***

Planned Community Developers closed on a 120-acre site for The Orchard, a mixed-use project at Highway 288 and Beltway 8 in Pearland.

The Orchard will include about 250K SF of retail, dining and entertainment, 150K SF to 300K SF of Class-A office, and 100 high-density residential homes in a walkable environment. It will also include about 1,100 “Gurban-style” multifamily units, a mix of garden- and urban-style. 

CBRE’s Jazz Hamilton and Rusty Lilley will lead retail leasing. Opportunities will include waterfront restaurant locations, plaza-facing storefronts, retail pads and traditional inline space.

JLL’s Jon Dutton and Andrew Elliott will oversee office leasing efforts.

LEASES

Chord Energy renewed and expanded its lease to 157K SF at 1001 Fannin in Downtown Houston. The renewal adds 27K SF to Chord Energy’s footprint in the building, where it has been for nearly 20 years.

Chip Colvill and Brad Beasley of Partners Real Estate represented the landlord. Chad Beck of Cushman & Wakefield represented Chord Energy.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Portman closed on 41 acres and broke ground on Gateway 1960, a three-building, 714K SF speculative industrial park slated for a summer 2027 delivery. The development is in Partners Real Estate’s North Houston Commerce Park, near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The project team includes Angler Construction as the general contractor, Powers Brown Architecture as the architect and Langan as the civil engineer. 

Partners’ industrial team represented Portman in the acquisition and will lease the buildings. 

Every acre of Phase 1 at Partners Capital’s Land Fund I's 153-acre project is now sold or under contract, before the infrastructure work is completed. Phase 1 will support 1.7M SF of industrial development at the southeast quadrant of FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield Road.  

Houston-based Adkisson Group is acquiring 35 acres and plans nine industrial buildings ranging from 30K SF to more than 150K SF. A national developer has the third parcel for a build-to-suit with a Fortune 50 tenant. 

Final closings are expected by mid-October, with paving starting next month and infrastructure complete before year-end. 

***

Freehill broke ground on Fairbanks Landing, a 1.6M SF industrial campus at 9220 Fairbanks North Houston Road in Northwest Houston. 

Phase 1 is being developed as a build-to-suit for Power Electronics. JLL’s Ryan Greene and Jeff Venghaus represented Power Electronics. JLL’s Joseph Berwick, Richard Quarles and Eliza Klein represented Freehill. 

Phase 1 will encompass 809K SF across Buildings 1 and 2 and is expected to deliver in the third quarter of 2027. Phase 2 will add Buildings 3 and 4, totaling 835K SF, with delivery expected in Q4 2027.

Berwick, Quarles and Klein are also handling Phase 2 leasing on behalf of Freehill.