Pillsbury Law Firm Leases Full Floor In 609 Main Downtown
Another law firm inked a big office lease in Houston following a months-long trend of legal firms propping up the office market as they migrate to the most updated, amenitized spaces.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman signed a 28K SF lease spanning the entire 20th floor at Hines’ 609 Main at Texas in Downtown Houston, according to a news release from Savills. This is a 5K SF upsize from Pillsbury’s space at 2 Houston Center, where it has had offices for two decades, a Savills spokesman said.
New York-headquartered Pillsbury is an international law firm with a focus on technology, life sciences, energy, natural resources, financial services and real estate. The firm tapped Savills to find a new office environment with “convenient, first-class amenities” while remaining close to the courts in the Central Business District, the release says.
Kirksey Architecture will design the firm’s new office space, which is expected to cost $3.5M to build out, the Houston Business Journal reported, citing a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing. Those filings are preliminary and often change.
“Pillsbury is a forward-thinking law firm that puts a strong emphasis on excellence and innovation, as well as diversity and building a more inclusive legal profession,” Savills Senior Managing Director Lesa Nickelson French said in the release.
“This same mentality applied to its real estate strategy as the firm sought a more modern and energized office environment. We identified a space on the 20th floor of 609 Main that fit the firm’s requirement and includes growth rights for future expansion.”
A Savills study last year found that Houston had the most square footage per attorney of any city in the country. Houston firms occupied an average of 1,055 SF per attorney. The national average was 985 SF.
“Everything's bigger in Texas is true with regard to office space as well,” Nickelson French previously told Bisnow.
609 Main at Texas is a 48-story trophy office building with a 300-person conference center and event space, an almost 8K SF fitness center, two rooftop gardens and street-level retail.
