The well-known names--architect John Kirksey, homebuilders David and Dick Weekley and investor Henry Hamman--now hold the deed and are fine-tuning the plan to redevelop the building. Dave Cook, executive director of the Houston office of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., gets the credit for the idea.

Cook tells GlobeSt.com that usually he thinks about buildings in terms of potential users, but in this case the location and condition of the building, positioned on 8.8 acres, combined with Kirksey and Weekleys' interest in the area caused him to think outside the box in terms of potential owners. Cook approached Kirksey with the redevelopment idea and he, in turn, brought in the Weekleys and Hamman.

Kirksey relocated his prominent Houston architectural firm to the area about 18 months ago, shortly after designing a corporate headquarters for Weekly Homes in the North Post Oak neighborhood. "We fully appreciate the advantages of this location," says Dick Weekley. Those advantages, Kirksey says, are excellent accessibility to downtown, the Galleria and the rest of the region via nearby junctions with Interstate 10, Texas 290 and Loop 610. Not to be ignored are the suburban prices, with the North Post Oak area going for considerably less than traditional suburban office product in surrounding submarkets.

Cook says the new owners plan to treat the building like "a blank canvas," renovating to suit tenants. Kirksey says he already has plans for traditional distribution uses, open flex space for a call center or an open office concept for a large company, similar to the spot he created for his architectural firm. "Our new offices are designed as what is commonly referred to as flex space. It's been an exceptional environment for Kirksey Architects and the Weiner's building represents a potential of 375,000 sf of this type of space," says Kirksey.

The two-story, tilt-wall structure currently has 50,000 sf dedicated to office space. A move to flex office would make it the largest contiguous block of that product type in the Houston market, according to Kirksey. Similar industrial buildings in the area have an 88.9% occupancy.

Whatever the end use, Kirksey and the other owners plan to devote their increased presence in North Post Oak to "instill new life into the neighborhood." Kirksey already is working on landscape improvement plans for the area. Cook represented the buyers while Bill Rudolph of the Houston office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. brokered the deal for the seller.