CB&I Leases HQ Office in The Woodlands

Howard Hughes has landed a headquarters lease in The Woodlands.

CB&I, formerly known as the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, leased 43,000 square feet at Hughes Landing, a mixed-use district within the Woodlands master-planned community. CB&I, which designs and builds storage facilities related to energy, will move about 150 employees into the space at 1725 Hughes Landing in September.

The company previously based its operations in The Woodlands from 2001 to 2018, when it occupied Lake Front North. After merging with McDermott in 2018, the combined company moved to 915 North Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor. Steve Hesse of JLL repped CB&I, while Scott Fikes and Jack Russo from JLL repped Howard Hughes.

Steve Hesse of JLL repped CB&I, while Scott Fikes and Jack Russo from JLL repped Howard Hughes.

“Hughes Landing is a great example of how an office can be integrated into a more robust community,” said Mark Butts, an executive at CB&I. Several of the company’s employees already live in the Woodlands.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Howard Hughes. The firm spun off several of its non-real-estate assets into a new venture, leaving Howard Hughes focused purely on real estate. Its portfolio spans more than 100,000 acres, including nearly 35,000 acres in its land bank.

Shortly after the spinoff, former board chairman and activist investor Bill Ackman said he was considering taking Howard Hughes private. Ackman and his firm, Pershing Square Capital, already own 38 percent of the company.

Little else was revealed about the deal in initial SEC filings, but the investment bank Jeffries is advising on the potential deal. Howard Hughes said it formed a committee of independent investors to evaluate the plan.

Meanwhile, Howard Hughes continues investing in the Woodlands. In June, it bought Waterway Plaza II in the Woodlands Town Center for $19.2 million, or $135 per square foot.