Area Development
The Howard Hughes Corporation, a company that owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S., reported it acquired two vacant, Class-A office buildings immediately adjacent to its Hughes Landing development in the master planned community of The Woodlands, Texas.

The Woodlands is a 28,000-acre master planned community located 27 miles north of downtown Houston. It is home to over 116,000 people, and more than 66,000 people work in the community.

According to company officials, in an off-market transaction, the company purchased the four- and six-story buildings totaling 257,025 of rentable square feet with spectacular views of Lake Woodlands, along with excess land which allows for the development of an additional office building, for $53 million.

The buildings, which were completed in 2002 and 2012, had been owned and occupied by the seller and were subject to deed restrictions that The Howard Hughes Corporation holds the unilateral right to modify, providing potential upside to the acquisition. The Howard Hughes Corporation intends to re-tenant these buildings as soon as possible upon acquisition, officials said.

"This acquisition is an excellent example of The Howard Hughes Corporation's unique ability to respond to market demand and create value for our shareholders," said Grant Herlitz, President of The Howard Hughes Corporation. "We currently have very little office space available to lease in our existing portfolio at Hughes Landing, and plan to begin construction on our next office building.”

β€œThe ability to purchase these buildings below replacement cost provides us with instant Class-A inventory at a lower cost, at a time when we are seeing significant demand for space. Furthermore, we obtained additional land and potential upside given our unilateral control over deed restrictions affecting these properties,” Herlitz said.

Paul Layne, President of the Central Region of The Howard Hughes Corporation said, "This acquisition adds to our already dominant market position in the region and strengthens our control over the supply of office space in The Woodlands.”