It's Official: Hess Takes Discovery

HOUSTON-Following months of speculation and rumor, Trammell Crow Co. and partner Principal Real Estate Investors is ready to officially unveil a tenant for the under-construction, 844,763-square-foot Discovery Tower. Hess Corp., will take the class A CBD office building, re-named Hess Tower, for its regional headquarters through a long-term lease.

Trammell Crow Co. launched construction on the project at 1501 McKinney St. in March 2008. According to a TCC release, the development was originally to measure 871,000 square feet and rise 30 stories above the ground. However, the building was modified to 29 stories and space cut to accommodate Hess’ requirements.Hess will relocate from its current local digs at Allen Center to occupy Hess Tower in 2011. Financial details were not disclosed.

Aaron Thielhorn, principal of office development for TCC’s Houston office tells GlobeSt.com that modifications were made to floors three through seven, with clear heights changed for the space. Though one floor was deleted from the building as a result of the modifications, the structure itself is eight feet taller than originally planned, he adds.

“Those bottom floors have tremendous views of Discovery Green, and Hess wants to use that space for shared employee space such as training facilities, meeting rooms and food service,” he says. The LEED Gold-certified building is next to Discovery Green–a $122-million, 12-acre downtown park.

Thielhorn adds that many of the changes were made to the blueprints even as the lease was being negotiated with Hess. “We had architects and contractors working on the fly to make this building work for Hess’ needs even while it was under construction,” he comments.