Report: Joint Venture To Acquire Texas' Tallest Skyscraper

Houston-based Hines and Cerberus Capital have agreed to acquire JP Morgan Chase Tower at 600 Travis St., Downtown Houston, according to Real Estate Alert.

The joint venture will pay about $627M or $300 per SF for the 2.1M SF office complex, which includes the 75-story Chase Tower, Texas' tallest skyscraper, and the adjacent 407K SF Chase Center at 601 Travis St.   

New York-based Cerberus will take a 90% stake while Hines will have 10% interest and operate the property, per the report. 

The seller is Hariri Interests, an investment group for the family of the late Rafik Hariri, the billionaire prime minister of Lebanon who was assassinated in 2005, per the report. Under Prime Asset Management, the family purchased Chase Tower in 1985 in a joint venture with Hines and later took full ownership. It acquired Chase Center in 2009. 

When the ink dries, the Chase office portfolio will be the second-biggest deal ever in dollar terms in Houston. In 2017, Brookfield Property cashed in an estimated $875M for Houston Center, a 9.2-acre portfolio of three high-rise office buildings and a 16-story tower atop a 196K SF retail center in Downtown Houston. The complex is underway on a major renovation project. 

Chase Tower was designed by the architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1982 as Texas Commerce Tower. Major tenants include law firms Hunton Andrews, Locke Lord, Shook Hardy and Winstead, as well as LINN Energy, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan.

Chase Center features office space, a fitness center, a 20-seat auditorium, retail space and a 12-story garage. The last renovation was in 2011. 

Hines declined to comment.