In a major real estate shakeup in downtown Houston, chemicals giant LyondellBasell plans to move its U.S. headquarters from its namesake tower to a landmark Galleria-area skyscraper, the chemical company said Wednesday.
LyondellBasell recently signed a lease for 318,504 square feet at the 64-story Williams Tower developed by Hines and owned by Invesco Real Estate, according to real estate brokerage CBRE.
The Rotterdam, Netherlands-based Lyondell — with regional headquarters in London and Houston, where it has about 1,300 employees — said it expects to begin moving into its new offices at 2800 Post Oak by late 2024 or 2025. The company said it plans to occupy floors 37 through 51.
Visual essay: How the Waterwall, outside of Williams Tower, became a Houston landmark over nearly 40 years
A Lyondell spokesperson said the move was part of “our new strategy to step up company performance and culture.”
Lyondell has long had a major presence in Houston as one of the 20 largest private employers in downtown as of 2021, according to research from Central Houston, the district’s business organization.
The company’s predecessor moved into the tower at 1221 McKinney in 1986. The tower, previously 1 Houston Center, was renamed LyondellBasell Tower after the company signed a 2012 lease renewal and expansion for nearly 360,000 square feet.
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“The decision (to move to Williams Tower) is due to the company’s new office work landscape, which has changed dramatically over the past few years ― including the adoption of a more flexible work policy,” a Lyondell spokesperson said in a statement.
The company, which had more than $50 billion in revenue last year, adopted a hybrid workplace strategy in 2021, and now allows employees to work remotely three days a week.
Lyondell’s current downtown landlord Brookfield Properties recently completed a multiyear renovation to modernize the 1970s and 1980s era buildings in Houston Center in southern downtown. The work at LyondellBasell Tower, the Highlight at Houston Center, 3 Houston Center, 2 Houston Center and 4 Houston Center brought new plazas and gathering areas, reclad sky bridges, replaced facades and updated lobbies and meeting facilities.
Williams Tower has been the tallest building in the Uptown area since it was completed in 1983. Invesco Real Estate, a global real estate investment manager, acquired it in 2013.
Lyondell’s lease is a major win for the West Loop/Galleria area, which had an office vacancy rate of about 26 percent in the first quarter, slightly higher than the broader Houston average, according to CBRE.
The lease is believed to be the Houston region’s largest office deal signed so far in 2023, eclipsing a 308,000-square-foot deal in which engineering firm Fluor will move to the Energy Corridor from Sugar Land.
Craig Beyer and Kevin Saxe with CBRE represented LyondellBasell in lease negotiations. Nina Seyyedin and Warren Savery with CBRE represented Invesco.
Read More: LyondellBasell moving to Uptown-Galleria’s Williams Tower