History of an Iconic Building: 1000 Main
It's less than 15 years old, but 1000 Main has already amassed quite the interesting history. We examined the highlights through the years.
Owner: Century Development
Called: Reliant Energy Plaza
Highlight: Construction began on the site of the former Lamar Hotel. (It was demolished in 1985 and in the interim, the surface parking lot was used for the annual “Miracle on Main Street” outdoor ice skating rink.)
The specs: Designed by Gensler, development cost $160M. With 36 stories, it reaches 518 feet and includes 837k SF. It’s known for its color-changing top and panels at the base.
Incident: In September, a concrete truck pouring the foundation toppled over and landed in Foley’s across the street. The store was evacuated and no one was hurt.
Highlight: 1000 Main, AKA Reliant Energy Plaza, delivered.
Occupancy: It opened at 86% leased, including 500k SF for Reliant Energy’s HQ. Other major tenants included Marsh USA, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Spencer Stuart and UBS.
Game changer: Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, Main Street was a mess. For years, people had been calling for a change, believing the road could be the heart of Downtown Houston. Century Development’s Richard Everett (who also developed Wells Fargo Plaza) decided to be the impetus, telling Ralph Bivens he wanted to “change the nature of Main Street.” 1000 Main indeed sparked a renaissance. The opening of the light rail, including the iconic water-fountained stop in front of 1000 Main, gave an extra push.
Connectivity: Digging the tunnel from 1000 Main across Lamar to Foley's was the system’s first significant addition in years. It also tied in with the tunnel from Foley's to its garage across Travis--that section was the oldest in the city, but had been disconnected from the rest of the system.
Owner: KanAm purchased the property
Price tag: $230M, a record for Downtown Houston at the time.
Occupancy: The following year, PMRG was awarded leasing of the property and moved its own corporate HQ into 32k SF there. (It's still got both the listing and the office.)
Owner: Invesco purchased the property
Price tag: $340M
On a roll: Invesco was snapping up iconic properties left and right. In 2013, it bought Williams Tower and BG Group Place.
Major tenant: Shell occupied 332k SF (40% of the building), taking advantage of the two-story trading floor built for Reliant. Its lease runs through 2025.
Highlight: Invesco put the property (99% leased at the time) on the market in September. It was reportedly appraised at $440M, and dozens of parties showed up to bid. It took only three months for a buyer to be announced.
Owner: LaSalle bid $450M, or a record-shattering $537/SF. But wait! Amid plummeting oil prices, they scrapped the deal in January 2015.
Owner: This month, German investor Union Investment Real Estate (advised by Metzler) closed on the property. It had been the runner-up behind LaSalle.
Price tag: Reportedly $440M, or $525/SF. If that’s correct, it marks a new high-water mark for Houston. (Our previous record was $524, set by Hess Tower in 2011.) It’s also a $200M increase for Invesco after only two and a half years of ownership.
Value-add: Real Estate Alert reports the property’s in-place rents are 20% below the asking rate. Investors were told a buyer could boost NOI by $3.5M within five years by bringing those up to market levels.
