The Calpine building will be a 32-story, 689,000-sf office building at 717 Texas. Prime Asset Management Inc. is partnering with Hines on the project, which will break ground in July and deliver in fourth quarter 2003. Calpine Corp., a San Jose, CA-based independent power producer, has inked a letter of intent for 300,000 sf in the building, accounting for about 40% of the building's total. The project also will feature 10,000 sf of retail space.
Hines project manager Larry Margolis tells GlobeSt.com that the developer is planning to take about 20,000 sf. And, he says, Hines is in the midst of talks to a number of potential large users for the building.
Margolis says Calpine will be consolidating office space from the Bank of America building, Wells Fargo building and Pennzoil building. The three sites total about 80,000 sf. According to Hines, over 1,100 Calpine employees will work in the new building.
Joseph Peddie, senior vice president of Cushman Realty Corp., has represented Calpine while David Kelley and Chrissy Wilson have acted on Hines' behalf. "Calpine Corp.'s growth throughout the country is exemplified by this new office building in Houston, the nation's energy center," says Diana Knox, senior vice president of the Central Region.
Margolis says there is sufficient demand for the undertaking, nipping any concern about CBD overbuilding. He cites historical absorption and less than a 3% vacancy in support of his contention. And, he says, Calpine as an anchor tenant further cements the building's positioning for success.
Margolis says this is the only one Houston project that Hines holds an equity interest. Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum has designed the 24-story granite building with a 900-vehicle enclosed parking structure. The building has floor plates upward of 26,500 sf and dual telecommunications risers for redundancy.
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