Chevron sells former Noble Energy building to Austin investor betting on office market (Houston Business Journal)
Chevron has offloaded a vacant office building in northwest Houston at a steep discount to an Austin-based real estate investment firm. Learn more about the buyer’s strategy.
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2025/02/04/capital-commercial-noble-energy-building-chevron.html
By Jeff Jeffrey – Senior reporter, Houston Business Journal
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) has offloaded an office building in northwest Houston at a steep discount to an Austin-based real estate investment firm that is betting big on the Bayou City’s office market.
Capital Commercial Investments President Doug Agarwal said his company paid $18.2 million for the 10-story tower at 1001 Noble Energy Way, which was once home to Houston-based Noble Energy’s employees before Chevron acquired the company and building in 2020. The former Noble Energy employees were subsequently transferred to Chevron’s downtown offices, leaving the building at 1001 Noble Energy Way vacant. The Houston Chronicle first reported the Capital Commercial Investments deal.
Despite being vacant, Agarwal said 1001 Noble Energy Way offers significant opportunities.
Agarwal said the purchase price was a mere fraction of the $110 million Noble Energy paid to acquire the building and the $60 million the company spent renovating and outfitting it with furniture. Capital Commercial Investments’ deal to acquire the building included the furniture, Agarwal added.
The office tower was built in 1998 and offers 521,949 square feet of office space. The transaction did not include the nearby 20-story former Noble Energy tower, which broke ground in 2013 and acquired by Williamsville, New York-based Acquest Development in 2023.
In 2014, 1001 Noble Energy Way was a finalist for the Houston Business Journal’s Landmark Award in the rehabilitation/renovation category.
“Our strategy is to buy buildings near great school districts and show them love by bringing in modern-day finishes,” Agarwal said. “Buildings like this, which are plug-and-play offer a great opportunity for tenants looking to move in and get to work rather than spend a year messing around with architects, electricians and other contractors doing a build-out.”
The deal to acquire 1001 Noble Energy Way marks Capital Commercial Investments’ latest multimillion-dollar play in Houston’s office market.
Last year, the company also acquired One and Two Westway, at 11025 and 11125 Equity Drive; The Offices at Greenhouse, at 19219 Katy Freeway; and Energy Crossing II, at 15011 Katy Freeway. In all, the company acquired seven office buildings in Dallas and Houston in 2024 and will soon close on two more buildings in Dallas, Agarwal said.
The reason the company is so bullish on the local office market, despite the well-documented high vacancy rate, is that the city continues to see its population grow as more businesses move away from the East and West coasts.
“Houston is a great place to start a business,” Agarwal said. “The city’s population continues to rise by about 130,000 people each year. If you figure that every new employee is going to need 43 square feet of office space, that’s a total of 5.6 million square feet that’s going to be absorbed every year.”
By targeting office buildings located near the suburbs, Agarwal said his company hopes to cater to companies looking to move closer to their employees, thus reducing their commute times.
“Right now, the lease-up rate for five-star buildings in the Energy Corridor and off Katy Freeway is about 90%,” he said. “If I am a company looking to be near a great school district with a short commute time, and I see a building that’s plug-and-play, with Class A finishes that is offering flexible leases at a decent price, it’s a no brainer.”
Agarwal also said there are very few buildings in the area that can house a large tenant, so 1001 Noble Energy Way offers a lot of flexibility for a variety of tenants.
“With the vacancy rates, I don’t see the Houston market pushing for new supply to be added, but I do see more people continuing to move in,” he said. “The demand is just going to keep going up for buildings in the right areas.”