Wells REIT Pays $70M for Second Westway Building

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Less than a year after announcing the acquisition of Westway One, a Class A building in Houston, on Jan. 31, Wells Core Office Income REIT is proud to announce that it has become owner of a second Westway building.

Westway II, part of the Westway Business Park located off the West Sam Houston Tollway at Clay Road, is a 242,374-square-foot Class A office building developed by Dienna Nelson Augustine Co. The LEED Silver-certified building includes high recycled-content materials, lower water-use plumbing and irrigation systems, special air filtration, low chemical emissions materials and low energy-use lighting. The 10-story building, completed in 2009, traded for $70.3 million, exclusive of closing costs and net of $4.2 million in adjustments, according to Citybizlist.

The building is 100 percent leased to four major tenants, with GE Oil & Gas occupying three-fourths of its space; according to Citybizlist, GE Oil & Gas has the right to extend its lease for either one additional 10-year renewal period or two additional five-year renewal periods. GE Oil & Gas is also the sole tenant of the neighboring Westway III building, as of September of this year, when the company leased the entire 182,000-square-foot space.

Wells Core REIT was represented in the sale by its senior vice president of capital markets, Keith Willby, while Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P.’s Jeff Hollinden represented seller and developer Dienna Nelson Augustine Co.

Image Courtesy of Dienna Nelson Augustine Co.