Green Rep Leads To 1.4M-SF Assignment

HOUSTON-Street cred in sustainability allowed Transwestern’s local office to receive leasing and management duties for the 1.4-million-square-foot Pennzoil Place. Owner Metropolis Investment Holdings Inc. plans to use Transwestern’s knowledge of sustainability practices to gain LEED certification for the class A downtown office building.

“They have a lot they want to do insofar as sustainability and LEED, and part of the reason we were selected was because of our track record on the sustainability front,” comments Chip Clarke, president of Transwestern’s Gulf Coast and Mountain regions. He tells GlobeSt.com that Transwestern, so far, is the only third-party property management and leasing company that has won accolades for its efforts on the sustainability front.

The asset at 711 Louisiana St. is 98% leased with no huge lease roll in the coming years. Tenants include Amegy Bank, Baker & McKenzie, Gensler and Associates and Geiger International Inc. Clarke says there is little roll in the near term.

Another edge Transwestern had over the competition, Clarke explains, is that the company’s senior property manager Ben Quinton had a long history with the operations of the 34-year-old building, while with Hines, which formerly had the leasing and management assignment. “Ben knows all the tenants and he’s had a long history with the operations and leasing of the building,” Clarke comments. “We couldn’t be happier to have a guy like that on our team.”

Finally, Transwestern leases and manages the 1.2-million-square-foot Bank of America Tower at 901 Main St. in downtown Dallas. Chicago-based Metropolis Investment Holdings owns that building as well and turned leasing and management activities to Transwestern’s Dallas office during mid-June 2007, when it was known as the Bank One Tower.

“Largely because of the relationship and good work our team had done with that asset, we got the opportunity to compete for their business in Houston,” Clarke comments.