Exclusive: Houston Conversion Lands $136M Loan
The high-rise is set to bring 460 apartments to the downtown area.
3L Real Estate has obtained a $136 million loan from Bank OZK for the office-to-residential conversion of One City Centre, a 780,530-square-foot tower at 1021 Main St. in downtown Houston, Yardi Matrix data shows. Plans call for 460 multifamily units and 93 hotel keys.
Development team includes Gensler, KW Landscape Architects and civil engineer Walter P. Moore, as well as VSMsq Structural Engineers and MEPF Wylie Engineering, according to Gensler architectural designs filed for a Certificate of Appropriateness at the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission.
Floors seven through 29 will house the project’s residential portion, while between levels two and six the development will include the hotel component. 3L CEO Joseph Slezak stated last year that the hospitality element will not operate as a flagged hotel, but rather as corporate lodging that caters to the central business district.
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Units include studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans across both the multifamily and the hotel portions. More than 60 percent of the residential apartments will feature one-bedroom layouts.
The repositioned tower’s ground level will include separate lobbies for the residential and hospitality components, as well as amenities such as a bar, conference room and dog wash. Other features are slated for the sixth floor, such as coworking spaces, a library, a lounge, a studio room, a gym and saunas. A new skybridge will connect that level to the rooftop of a nearby garage, where a pool deck is set to be built.
Conversion momentum grows in downtown Houston
The 1960-built property has immediate access to the MetroRail Red Line, connecting directly to the employment hub at the Texas Medical Center. The nearby 919 Milam St. traded in June, with the 542,919-square-foot office property heading toward a possible multifamily conversion.
Another central business district tower that could find itself pivoting away from office usage is 800 Bell, a 1.2 million-square-foot high-rise that used to serve as the headquarters of Humble-Exxon. The ownership considers residential adaptive reuse and divestment options.
