Developer Kicks Off 1.4-Mil SF Downtown Office Project

HOUSTON-The cranes are on site and dirt’s finally flying on the 1.4-million sf 1000 Main, the largest investment office building to rise from the ground in two decades in Downtown Houston. The ground-breaking has been three years in the making. The office tower will deliver in March 2003, with Reliant Resources as the lead tenant. The division of Reliant Energy has signed for 525,000 sf. The 36-story building has a 783,000-sf office tower, 50,000-sf of retail space, a 55,000-sf energy and commodity trading floor and a 1,566-space parking garage.

Ken Stockton of NorthMarq Capital Inc., which secured the project’s financing, tells GlobeSt.com that the project had taken so long to come to fruition because lenders have been gun shy about spec development in Houston as a result of the mid-1980s energy crisis. He says “there is always a Houston factor to overcome” when going after financing deals for city developers. “Everyone is afraid Houston will become overbuilt,” he says.

Financing is coming from NorthMarq Capital, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bank of America, which is providing construction financing. Stockton and associate Rene Joubert put together the deal, but it has taken significant pre-leasing to get to the ground-breaking stage. The building is now 70% leased. Other tenants are Century Development and Cockrell Interests.