Hines REIT Buys 24-Story Office for $156M

The law firm has a lease signed through 2024, which attracted the REIT, says John Wood, VP of the Houston-based Hines. The REIT is sponsored by Hines, and since November 2004 has accumulated 42 properties.

Wood says he thinks the REIT made a good investment. "It's in a great location and is relatively new construction, it's really the nicest building in the submarket," he tells GlobeSt.com. He says Crown developed the building in 2003 with the law firm just as the main anchor, but Shook, Hardy eventually took over the entire building. Wood says he can't divulge the exact lease rate, but says most buildings in the submarket lease for between $20 to $24 per sf, gross.

Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, the building is granite set for the first and second floors, and the lobby has a two-story glass curtain wall. Parking for 2,716 vehicles is provided by a nine-level parking garage adjacent to the building, with underground tunnel access to 2555 Grand. The building is also connected to local venues via the Link, an 880-foot-long, glass-enclosed elevated pedestrian bridge.

Hines has been active in the city for about a decade, Wood says. Hines had owned 2345 Grand just down the street, but sold it last fall to Boston-based Franklin Street Properties, though Hines still manages the building. "It was a value-add investment, and we repositioned the property and stabilized the leasing. Once that was done, it was time to move on," Wood says. Also managed in Kansas City by Hines is the 531,000-sf H&R Block world headquarters at One H&R Block Way, which the company built for the tax preparer in 2006.