Pacific Life Starts Foreclosure on $70M Office Loan in Houston

Pacific Life Insurance is taking steps to foreclose on a $70 million loan backed by Four Westlake Park, a 588,000-square-foot office building in Houston’s Energy Corridor.

Treeview Real Estate Advisors’ loan, originated in 2007, is in default. Pacific Life Insurance is seeking to take possession via foreclosure. The property is set to go to auction on Oct. 3, according to Bisnow.

Four Westlake Park is a 20-story, Class A office building located at 200 Westlake Park Boulevard, south of the Addicks Reservoir off Interstate 10 Frontage Road. Developed by Hines in the ’90s as part of the 53-acre Westlake Park, it was later acquired by Falcon Real Estate, which sold it to Treeview in 2020 for an undisclosed amount.

The building had an $86 million appraised value as of January 2023, according to the Harris County Appraisal District.

BP was the building’s major tenant, but the multinational oil and gas company moved its employees out and put the entire building up for sublease in 2016. BP’s lease expired in June. The foreclosure could impact the current tenants, which include an oil and gas company and a consulting firm.

Four Westlake Park isn’t the only property in the Energy Corridor battling distress woes. Three Westlake Park, another office building within the Westlake Park corridor, went back to the lender in 2019 and sold at a $67 million loss in 2022.

Westlake Park’s challenges are in contrast to the rest of West Houston, which largely shepherded Houston’s office market into a second-quarter comeback with increased leasing activity.

West Houston submarkets accounted for nearly half of the total office leasing volume recorded in the second quarter. The area has been steadfast against the current of distress that has rocked the Bayou City.

Just last month, Greenway Plaza, the massive 10-building office complex downtown, saw a $575 million drop in valuation after a year-long default battle with special servicer Midland Loan Services and defaulting on a $465 million loan originally issued by Goldman Sachs.