By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 1 -- Chevron USA, a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corp., agreed to buy a 40-story, 1.2 million sq ft office tower in downtown Houston that was built by Enron Corp., the former trading giant.
In addition, ChevronTexaco also plans to purchase a 1,100-car parking garage connected with the building and an adjacent block of undeveloped land. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The building was completed after Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001. ChevronTexaco bought the building from Intell Management & Investment Co. of New York. Enron never occupied the structure.
ChevronTexaco said the building will enable it to consolidate five of the company's existing seven Houston-area offices. The company said that it expects to realize cost efficiencies and productivity gains from the consolidation.
Meanwhile, ChevronTexaco plans to still maintain its offices and operations in Bellaire and west Houston. Some 1,800 ChevronTexaco employees work in downtown Houston now. The new building is expected to house about 3,700 employees when fully occupied.
