A JPMorgan Chase & Co. subsidiary is paying almost a billion dollars to buy a piece of some of the state’s biggest buildings, including three in Dallas and two in Houston.
Ft. Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. announced Monday that it is selling a stake to JPMorgan Investment Management in the Trammell Crow Center, Fountain Place and Crescent buildings in Dallas, and the Houston Center and Post Oak Central projects in Houston. Together, the properties have 7.9 million square feet of office space.
JPMorgan will buy a 60 percent stake in the Crescent in Dallas and the Houston Center and Post Oak Central projects in Houston. Those buildings are valued at almost $900 million. JPMorgan is also buying a 76 percent share of the Trammell Crow Center and Fountain Place skyscrapers in downtown Dallas, which are valued at about $320 million. Crescent said it will generate about $316 million in cash from the sales, and disclosed that it is negotiating with another buyer to reduce its ownership in the Crescent and the two Houston properties further to 24 percent. Upon completion of the sales, Crescent will be the general partner in the ventures and will continue to manage and lease the buildings.
Crescent endeared itself to many in Houston real estate business circles several years ago for managing to put itself in the position of prosecuting a highly publicized and unpopular lawsuit against Houston-based Lakewood Church. As the owner of Greenway Plaza, Crescent objected to the church’s leasing from the City of Houston of the Houston Rockets’ former home, The Summit a/k/a Compaq Center in Greenway Plaza, which the church is turning into a mega-church facility. Crescent and the City eventually worked out a settlement, and Crescent dropped the lawsuit against Lakewood, exiting the litigation with its tail squarely between its legs.