KBS, one of the nation’s largest investors in Class A commercial real estate, has sold Ten West Corporate Center, a fully leased, four-story, 199,001 square- foot Class A office building in Houston, Texas’ Energy Corridor. The property was purchased by a JV between Ellingstone Group and an overseas institutional investor. Ellingstone a boutique investment and advisory firm that focuses on private, direct commercial real estate investments in the U.S.
Houston is home to the headquarters of 24 Fortune 500 companies, is one of the largest MSAs in the country, and less formally deemed the “energy capital of the world,” making it an attractive place to invest when KBS originally bought the property in 2006, according to Gio Cordoves, Western regional president for KBS.
“The Energy Corridor, known as the Central Business District of West Houston, is the third largest employment center in Houston,” says Cordoves. “Given the lengthy lease term commitment at Ten West Corporate Center we know the buyer will enjoy this cash flow positive property for years to come.”
Built to the highest institutional standards, the building is leased to a British multinational engineering and consulting firm and a global leader in consulting and engineering across energy and the built environment.
“Ten West Corporate Center has been fully occupied by an excellent tenant with great credit during our lengthy hold,” says Brett Merz, asset manager for Ten West Corporate Center and senior vice president for KBS. “Fully occupied assets like Ten West Corporate Center can provide investors with strong cash flow and performance.”
Built in 1998, the property is located along Katy Freeway (I-10) at the Barker Cypress intersection within the Katy Freeway/Energy Corridor submarket – an area known internationally for having the largest concentration of energy companies in the world including BP America, ConocoPhillips, Gulf States Toyota, Methodist Hospital System, and Sysco. As a major employment center with over 300 companies, 104,000-plus employees and 26- plus million square feet of office space, the Energy Corridor offers immediate access to natural assets including Buffalo Bayou, recreational trails and adjacency to over 26,000 acres of parks and open green spaces.
Ten West Corporate Center is conveniently situated within the Park Ten office park, a 500-acre master-planned business park that is the epicenter of the Energy Corridor submarket. Park Ten is home to the headquarters of a number of multi-national companies, including Blade Energy Partners, Kraton Polymers and Aramco.
The building has evolved to be part of a cluster of properties that collectively serve as the U.S. headquarters for the building’s tenant. Onsite and offsite amenities available to employees at Ten West Corporate Center are abundant in addition to being situated close to transportation, shopping, entertainment, restaurants, hotel accommodations and fitness facilities.
Kevin McConn and Marty Hogan of JLL represented KBS in the sale of Ten West Corporate Center.
“Opportunities to own such a high-quality, well-managed property with a solid long-term tenant in place are few and far between in this market,” says McConn.
Susan Hill with JLL represented the buyer, Ellingstone Group on acquisition financing.
Attorneys Bruce Fischer and Howard Chu, and paralegal Amanda Kennedy, of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Orange County office, together with attorney Tina Ross in Greenberg Traurig’s Dallas office, represented KBS as legal counsel in the disposition.
“It was rewarding to work with KBS to complete this transaction, which aligns with the firm’s ongoing investment strategy,” said Fischer, Greenberg Traurig’s Chair of the West Coast Real Estate Practice and Co-Managing Shareholder of the Orange County Office, who led the Greenberg Traurig team representing KBS.
“Ten West Corporate Center’s stable and predictable income backed by a long-term lease to a multinational tenant with strong creditworthiness made the property extremely attractive to us,” says Rishy Mehrotra, Managing Partner of Ellingstone Group.
Ten West Corporate Center is located at 17420 Katy Freeway in Houston, Texas.