TCC, Principal to Develop New 456 KSF BTS in Houston

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Noble Energy, Inc., a leading independent energy company, has hired the joint venture of Trammell Crow Company and Principal Real Estate Investors to develop Noble Energy Center Two, a 456,000-square-foot office building located in Houston’s Northwest submarket.

“The company wanted to get their people in one location and create a campus that is a better environment for their employees,” Aaron Thielhorn, TCC’s managing director in its Houston office, told Commercial Property Executive. “It’s a high quality building and its amenities include a fitness center, conference facility, dining facility and others that are an improvement over its existing location.”

The building will be constructed alongside Noble Energy Center One, a 10-story, 498,000-square-foot office building at 20555 State Highway 249 that Noble Energy recently leased. The two buildings will be connected via an elevated sky bridge and will serve as Noble Energy’s new global headquarters with a combined 954,000 square feet of leased space.

TCC and Principal Real Estate Investors initially purchased the building and adjacent land parcel in May 2011 from Hewlett Packard Corporation.

“The building was only 12 years old when we purchased it and so they were able to move into a real high quality building initially at a relatively attractive price,” Thielhorn said. “It had the adjacent land, so it had the growth opportunity and it was always thought of as a two-phase opportunity.”

Noble Energy Two will sit adjacent to The Vintage, a master-planned, mixed-use community that features 537,000 square feet of retail/office space, more than 1,600 upscale residences, two apartment communities, a 123-room hotel, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, and a St. Luke’s regional hospital.

“They were looking to stay within the northwest segment of the city, because they are currently in Greenspoint and a lot of their employees live in the area,” Thielhorn said. “This location has the ability to pull from a number of areas—The Woodlands, West Houston—so it’s well located for a company that has a high concentration of employees.”

The neighborhood also includes an abundance of golf courses, premier retail and restaurants and regional parks. Access is provided by way of Beltway 8, SH 249 and the planned Grand Parkway expansion, which will improve regional mobility throughout north and west Houston.

Noble Energy Center Two is expected to break ground in the summer of 2013 and be completed by mid-2015. The development team is seeking LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Kirksey Architects has been retained as the project’s architect.

“This expansion is part of a long-term plan designed to enhance Noble Energy’s performance. Our new headquarters campus will accommodate our continued and exciting growth, while creating an environment that encourages creativity and teamwork,” said Charles D. Davidson, Noble Energy’s chairman and CEO. “The 20-story, Class A office building will feature an integrated eight-story parking garage and an adjacent Town Hall to serve corporate meetings.”

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