Howard Hughes Holdings Buys Woodlands Office Building for $19M

The developer of the master planned community The Woodlands is buying an office building in the Houston suburb’s “downtown.”

Howard Hughes Holdings purchased the 140,000-square-foot Waterway Plaza II for $19.2 million, or $135 per square foot, according to a news release. It was appraised at $13 million in 2024, Montgomery Central Appraisal District records say. The seller is New York-based Clarion Partners, which purchased the building in 2013.

The property is 55 percent occupied, the release said.

Waterway Plaza II, located in The Woodlands Town Center, was built in 2000, has six stories and sits on just over 3 acres. The property also includes a 1,300-space parking garage.

The company expects the property to reach a net operating income of $3 million, it said in a release.

The Woodlands Town Center is a 1,000-acre outdoor mall that features stores like Target, Office Max and The Container Store.

Howard Hughes owns other office buildings in the district, including The Woodlands Towers, which stand 31 and 32 stories tall; 3 and 4 Waterway Square, two nine-story office buildings; and 1400 Woodloch Forest Drive, a five-story building. The firm’s office portfolio in The Woodlands Town Center is 96 percent full, it said in the release.

Houston’s office market is still struggling with high vacancy as companies adapt to remote work norms. Office vacancy in The Woodlands was 18.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Colliers. In Houston, office vacancy rose to 26.7 percent.

The Woodlands is located 27 miles north of Houston. The community sits on 28,500 acres and has 123,000 residents.

Howard Hughes is the developer behind master planned communities throughout the country. In addition to The Woodlands, the firm’s portfolio also includes The Woodland Hills and Bridgeland in Houston.

The company, which trades on the Nasdaq as HHH, owns 4 million square feet of office space in Texas.