1717 St. James Pl. is an 110,500-square-foot office building in the Galleria/Uptown submarket.
HOUSTON—Accesso has achieved the US Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification at the newly remodeled 1717 St. James Pl., an approximately 110,500-square-foot office building in the Galleria/Uptown submarket. The property received the certification as a result of its energy performance in 2018.
"The EPA's Energy Star certification is a coveted distinction that reflects the significant commitment we have made to enhance the sustainability of our portfolio," said Paul Gaines, managing director, asset management for Accesso. "The criteria for obtaining Energy Star certification is quite extensive and requires a substantial reduction in energy use, operating cost and greenhouse gas emissions."
Located within walking distance to a variety of restaurants, hotels and retail shops, and surrounded by the Tanglewood and Briargrove neighborhoods, 1717 St. James Pl. offers a number of amenities and floor plan options, ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 square feet. Recently, Accesso completed a comprehensive repositioning at the property which included transforming the outdated lobby to include a pop-up restaurant and energy-efficient lighting throughout; updating the elevator cabs, common areas and HVAC system; and improving the building's signage. And, Accesso added a tenant conference room and lounge area, Accesso Club, the company's portfolio-wide exclusive amenities program.
"At Accesso, we understand that energy efficiency and high-quality amenities go hand-in-hand as it relates to attracting and retaining best-in-class tenants and building trust within the community, and that's exactly what 1717 St. James Pl. now offers as a result of the renovation," said Mike Adams, director of asset management for Accesso and asset manager for the property.
Property manager Michelle Cintron played a key role in earning the Energy Star certification. By reducing energy and carbon output to earn this certification at the property, Accesso continues to improve the efficiency and sustainability of its portfolio.
"At 1717, we have Daiken magnetic-bearing chillers, which is basically the leading manufacturer and technology in water-cooled centrifugal chillers at this time," Adams tells GlobeSt.com. "The property has improved operating efficiencies. We converted all common-area and parking-garage lights to LED. It has blue box coil cleaning to improve indoor air quality. As part of tenant improvements, we are also upgrading all tenant spaces to LED lighting."
Energy Star-certified buildings are verified to perform in the top 25% of buildings nationwide, based on weather-normalized source energy use that takes into account occupancy, hours of operation and other key metrics. Energy Star is the only energy-efficiency certification in the United States that is based on verified energy performance. On average, Energy Star-certified buildings use 35% less energy, cause 35% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and are less expensive to operate than peer buildings–all without sacrifices in performance or comfort.
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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.
