(HOUSTON) – The Houston office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that they have signed a lease with a subsidiary of BG Group plc for 164,000 square feet at its new MainPlace office tower at 811 Main in downtown Houston to house the international natural gas company’s U.S.-based headquarters.
Under the terms of the lease, BG Group has additional expansion capacity in the 46-story, one-million-square-foot office building, which will be renamed BG Group Place.
Headquartered in the U.K. and active in more than 25 countries on five continents, BG Group plc (LSE: BG.L) is a world leader in natural gas.
The Group’s strategy is focused on connecting competitively priced resources to specific, high-value markets, with a broad portfolio of exploration and production, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), transmission and distribution and power generation business interests.
In the United States, BG Group has exploration and production interests in two prolific shale basins, the Haynesville and the Marcellus.
It also is one of the leading importers of LNG to the United States with capacity rights at terminals in Louisiana and Georgia, and markets indigenous gas supplies and regasified LNG to customers throughout the Southern, Eastern and Midwestern United States.
The Houston office is the regional headquarters for BG Group’s North and South American activities, as well as its Global LNG and shipping businesses.
Jim Bailey, Joe Peddie and Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield and Glenn Pinkerton of Vinson & Elkins represented BG Group in the transaction.
Chrissy Wilson and Stewart Robinson represented Hines.
Martin Houston, executive director of BG Group, said, “The city of Houston has been at the heart of our business since we first began operations in the United States in 1989.
We are delighted to extend our commitment to the city as we prepare for the next phase of BG Group’s growth across North America and beyond.”
Houston said BG Group plans to relocate from its current office in the Galleria area to the new building sometime in mid to late 2011.
“We believe our lease agreement with BG Group validates the market demand for new, highly efficient office space in downtown Houston,” said Hines Senior Vice President John Mooz.
“We’re very excited about Hines’ role in the next generation of sustainably designed buildings, and we’re elated with BG Group’s decision to move to downtown.
They will be a superior addition to downtown Houston.”
“Leasing activity, as well as the CBD in general, has picked up in 2010,” noted Hines Vice President of Leasing Chrissy Wilson.
The building is owned by the HC Green Development Fund, a partnership of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and Hines.
The fund focuses exclusively on developing sustainable office buildings throughout the United States certifiable through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Core & Shell (LEED-CS) program.
Recently, the building attained LEED Platinum pre-certification, the highest level of pre-certification available.
CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets totaling $218.5 billion, of which $15.4 billion is invested in real estate. The System provides retirement and health benefits to more than one million state and public employees and their families. For further information on CalPERS, please visit the System’s Web site at www.calpers.ca.gov.
In downtown Houston, Hines has developed 23 projects totaling approximately 17 million square feet.
This new development represents the latest addition to the skyline since Hines’ 717 Texas building was completed in 2003.
Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,119 properties representing more than 457 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.
With offices in 100 cities in 17 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Hines is also a world leader in sustainable real estate strategies, with extensive experience in LEED®, ENERGY STAR®, BREEAM, Haute Qualité Environnementale and DGNB green building rating systems. Visit www.hines.com for more information.