Apache Corp. to move to Westchase from longtime Uptown headquarters

Houston-based Apache Corp. (Nasdaq: APA) is moving its headquarters from Uptown to the Westchase District.

The oil and gas company has leased an additional 118,000 square feet and renewed the lease for its current space, which it has been subleasing since at least 2016, at One Briarlake Plaza at 2000 West Sam Houston Parkway.

The oil company has been leasing 210,000 square feet there since 2010, when it acquired Mariner Energy, according to Transwestern’s Tyler Garrett, who represented the landlord in the lease negotiations along with colleagues David Baker and Katy Gragg. Brandon Clarke, Graham Horton, Kendall Hughes and Ryan Roth of JLL represented Apache.

“We are excited to move our corporate headquarters to Briarlake Plaza,” said Mark Maddox, Apache’s senior vice president of administration, in a statement. “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.”

The new office will feature collaboration spaces, state-of-the-art technology and numerous employee amenities, he added.

Apache has engaged San Francisco-based Gensler for the design and Houston-based Harvey Builders as the general contractor for the build-out.

Colin Connolly, president and CEO of Cousins Properties, said he welcomes Apache to Briarlake Plaza, which is now more than 95% leased.

“This corporate headquarters relocation highlights the importance of premier workplaces in fostering employee collaboration and enhancing company culture,” he said in a statement.

Apache’s move is the latest in several companies’ headquarters relocations to the western side of Houston.

In July, engineering and construction firm Bechtel announced it will be moving to Parkway Property’s CityWestPlace campus across the street from Briarlake Plaza. And in March, Canada-based energy infrastructure giant Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) announced it subleased nine floors in the Energy Center Five building at 915 N. Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor from Houston-based McDermott International Inc.

More companies are currently considering westward relocations, Garrett said.

“A lot of this speaks (to) getting headquarter offices closer to where the population lives,” he said. “That’s a trend that’s definitely in full force right now.”

Apache has been headquartered at Post Oak Central, at 2000 Post Oak Blvd., since 1991. It last renewed its 524,342-square-foot lease there for five years until Dec. 31, 2024. The company did not respond to a question on whether it plans to exit the lease prematurely.

The move to Briarlake Plaza is a reversal of Apache’s consolidation into Post Oak Central and consideration to build a new headquarters on a 6.4-acre property at 1770 Post Oak Blvd., which it purchased in 2012.

Apache did not respond to a question about what it plans to do with that property. It told the Houston Business Journal in 2018 that the development of that headquarters building would depend on favorable market and economic conditions in the future.