Shorenstein Hires Transwestern to Lease 1.2 MSF Exxon Mobil Tower

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties L.L.C. has chosen Transwestern to serve as the exclusive leasing agent for 800 Bell—the 1.2 million-square-foot office tower in Houston’s Central Business District that the company acquired back in January.

The 45-story 800 Bell St. building, known as the ExxonMobil Tower, was built in 1962 as the headquarters of Humble Oil & Refining Co., a predecessor to ExxonMobil; at that time, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, at 606 feet. The property includes a seven-story parking garage covering two city blocks on the corner of Travis and Bell streets.

Current tenant ExxonMobil will vacate the building in 2015, when the development of its campus will be completed, giving Shorenstein the opportunity to deliver significant improvements to the property through an extensive redevelopment. The details of the redevelopment project have not yet been released.

For leasing, 800 Bell relies on its unique corporate identity on the Houston skyline and on the fact that it remains one of the largest blocks of contiguous space offered in Houston in more than 30 years.

“We are very excited about this unique opportunity,” said Transwestern’s Eric Anderson, executive vice president. “It is not very often that we can be a part of something as significant as enhancing the downtown Houston skyline. Shorenstein has a reputation for delivering successful signature redevelopment projects, such as Market Square in San Francisco, which includes the headquarters of Twitter, Yammer and One Kings Lane. We are excited to see what Shorenstein has in store for 800 Bell and downtown Houston.” Anderson, executive vice president David Baker and vice president Paul Wittorf will be in charge of marketing and leasing the property.

Image courtesy of Obskura via Flickr