HOUSTON-After more than a year of negotiations, two locally-headquartered companies have committed to lease renewals totaling 97,698 square feet at The Esperson Buildings in downtown. Horizon Wind Energy LLC inked a medium-term lease for 58,515 square feet, while law firm Martin Disiere Jefferson and Wisdom L.P. signed a long-term lease for 39,183 square feet.
Both tenants had leases rolling in March 2011, according to Paul Wittorf of Transwestern’s local office. He represented the landlord, San Francisco-based Seligman Western Enterprises LTD, in both lease negotiations. Horizon Wind Energy was represented by Louie Crapitto of Jones Lang LaSalle, and Martin Disiere Jefferson and Wisdom was represented by Reggie Jackson and Joshua Brown of Jackson & Cooksey.
“Seligmans’ long-term plans for the project helped us retain and expand these two tenants,” Wittorf says. He tells GlobeSt. both tenants looked at other submarkets and buildings before committing to new leases at The Esperson Buildings, a 600,000-square-foot complex that includes two class B buildings that are connected on.
Built in 1927, the buildings are among the most architecturally significant properties in the city. At the time they were built, they were the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi, with one building offering 27 stories and the other building offering 19 stories.
Horizon Wind Energy, which has been a tenant in the historic complex for six years, “looked very hard at the class A office market,” Wittorf says. However, the company’s LEED silver office space in The Esperson Buildings – of which the last portion was built out only two years ago – was a deciding factor in renewing its lease.
“They’ve got very nice space, and they decided it would be best to stay where they were,” Wittorf explains, adding that Horizon Wind Energy remains the largest tenant in The Esperson Buildings. The energy firm is located on the 6th and 7th floors.
Similarly, Martin Disiere Jefferson and Wisdom also did a broad search of the market and had several downtown alternatives. “At the end of the day, they stayed with us because of the significance of the building – it’s very well known,” Wittorf says. The law firm’s new lease includes an 11,000-square-foot expansion, and it will occupy floors 17 thru 20.
“We were able to lock up some leases that were coming due, and we were able to stagger the roll a little bit, as well,” Wittorf says. After inking these renewals, The Esperson Buildings has a contiguous block of 40,000 square feet remaining, along with some smaller blocks of space.
Seligman recently completed streetscape renovations for the complex including all new hardscaping with new street pavers, trees and landscaping to tie into the buildings’ architecture. Moreover, the owner has a number of sustainability initiatives to improve and preserve the buildings; the complex was the EPA Energy STAR award last year.
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