The historic Esperson is comprised of two buildings that were originally built separately.
HOUSTON—The approximately 600,000-square-foot historic Esperson is comprised of two buildings that were originally built separately in downtown: the 32-story Niels Esperson building built in 1927 and the 19-story Mellie Esperson building built in 1941. The buildings were connected in the 1950s and today encompass an entire city block bound by Walker, Rusk, Milam and Travis streets.
Due to maturing debt on the property, JLL's Capital Markets recently secured $52.8 million to refinance the buildings on behalf of a partnership between Contrarian Capital Management and Cameron Management. MetLife Investment Management provided the loan that replaces the debt. JLL executive managing director Tom Melody, managing director Paul House, senior vice president John Ream and Associate Connor Harrell led the JLL team on the transaction.
“The cost of debt remains attractive to owners and we're seeing lenders very active in the Houston market,” House said. “Backed by strong, experienced ownership and as one of the only historic office buildings in downtown Houston, Esperson presented lenders with a one-of-a-kind opportunity.”
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
