Cousins Properties inks 14-year lease with Apache Corp.

Apache Corporation gave the Houston office market a much needed boost this week, announcing it will renew and expand its lease at Cousins Properties’ Briarlake Plaza until 2038.

The oil-and-gas firm has occupied a 210,000-square-foot space at the Class A office building, about 15 miles west of downtown, since 2019, and its lease was set to expire in 2024. Apache has employees split between multiple office spaces in Uptown and Briarlake, but will unify its headquarters into a 328,000-square-foot space in the plaza by 2024, according to a company announcement.

“We are excited to move our corporate headquarters to Briarlake Plaza.” said Mark Maddox, Apache Corporation’s senior vice president of administration. “The customized space we will build out at Briarlake will facilitate employee connection, reduce drive times for the majority of our employees and enhance the employee workplace experience. Once complete, the new Apache office will feature a variety of collaboration spaces, state-of-the-art technology and numerous employee amenities.”

It’s a trend breaking move from Apache. Many companies across Houston’s office market have been reducing corporate footprints as more and more employees work remote. As of 2021, Apache Corporation had over 2,200 employees.

Other office districts in Houston aren’t fairing as well. Moody’s Investor Services recently downgraded two bonds securing Greenway Plaza, another Class A corporate district, citing lack of payments on the loans and a decline in Houston’s office market as primary reasons for the adjustment. Nineteen percent of Houston’s 350 million square feet of office space was sitting empty in October, with 9 million square feet available to sublet, according to CoStar.

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