Choose your location
Houston Business Journal
Huge defense award includes Houston universities
As nearly $1 billion from a federal defense award heads to Texas, Houston researchers are set to benefit, and the Bayou City’s core industries could be next in line.<\p> In July, the Department of Defense awarded the Texas Institute for Electronics $840 million through its innovation wing, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA. <\p>
Public co. files for bankruptcy protection
Update: Conn's Inc. has outlined plans for a potential "full-chain liquidation" in its court filings. Click here for more details.<\p> The company filed for bankruptcy protection on July 23 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. It listed more than $2.44 billion in total assets and nearly $1.95 billion in total debts as of Jan. 31.<\p>
Downtown office tower reeling after value slashed
A prominent downtown office tower that was already suffering from financial problems recently took another hit when an appraisal valued it for nearly $4 million less than its outstanding loan balance.<\p> 801 Travis' April appraisal — which valued the 21-story, glass-encased tower at the corner of Travis and Rusk streets at $19.9 million — was significantly lower than its $24 million loan balance and less than half of the $43 million value it had in 2013, according to loan servicer notes.<\p>
First-of-its-kind United Airlines facility sold
A new distribution center near George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has traded hands — three months after being leased by United Airlines.<\p> Sydney-based Macquarie Asset Management purchased the 509,600-square-foot warehouse at 17440 state Highway 59 in Humble in late June from Dallas-based developer Hunt Southwest Real Estate Development, the companies recently announced.<\p>
Tellurian execs to lose millions in incentive cuts
Houston-based Tellurian Inc. (NYSE American: TELL) is cutting executives' incentive programs by millions of dollars ahead of the company’s sale to Australia-based Woodside Energy Group Ltd. (NYSE: WDS).<\p> The executives were set to receive tens of millions of dollars when each phase of the Driftwood liquefied natural gas project reached a final investment decision. While the incentive program is still in place, it has been reduced to roughly a third of what it used to be.<\p>
Texas Medical Center hospital gains new CEO
Memorial Hermann Health System is bringing new leadership to its flagship hospital after it recently scored high marks in national rankings.<\p> Michael Roussos was named CEO of Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center Campus with an effective start date of Sept. 23, the health system said July 23. <\p>
Land needed for convention center expansion
Update: The Houston City Council on July 24 approved Houston First Corp.'s proposal to acquire additional properties for the planned George R. Brown Convention Center expansion.<\p> The Houston City Council has scheduled a vote July 24 on a proposal from Houston First Corp. to acquire downtown properties to allow the George R. Brown Convention Center to be expanded.<\p>
Tech giant expands workforce program to Houston
Amazon Web Services' Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance workforce development program is expanding to Houston.<\p> The company announced the program's Texas expansion at the AWS Imagine event July 23 in Austin, with Houston and Dallas being the two main hub cities. Texas is the fifth state to host the program, which has launched in New York, Illinois, Washington and West Virginia. It has also launched in Egypt, Spain, Singapore, Italy, Germany, India, Colombia and Brazil.<\p>
Energy infrastructure co. to make $983M acquisition
Houston-based energy infrastructure company Archrock Inc. (NYSE: AROC) is acquiring Midland, Texas-based natural gas compressor company Total Operations and Production Services LLC, expanding its electric motor drive compression capabilities. <\p> Archrock will pay about $983 million in a cash-and-stock transaction for TOPS, which is a portfolio company managed by affiliates of New York-based Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO). About $826 million will be paid in cash, with the remaining $157 million being paid in new common shares. <\p>
Country clubs are getting younger. Not everyone is happy about it.
Pine Tree Country Club general manager Andrew Smith isn’t sweating the dress code.<\p> The Birmingham, Alabama, club has relaxed its clothing rules since its founding in 1968, when it debuted as the result of a merger between two private clubs. Since then, the focus at the club has been on creating a fun, friendly atmosphere where people can meet — and membership has grown as a result.<\p>
Houston learns 2028 RNC lessons from Milwaukee
After the Republican National Convention wrapped in Milwaukee last week, and the party's eyes are firmly on November, Houston's eyes are on 2028.<\p> During the convention, representatives from Houston visited the RNC for a site visit to get a sense of operations. This was the first time a future host city had such an opportunity.<\p>
Rice Athletics sets fundraising record
Following its first official year in the American Athletic Conference, Rice University Athletics has set a new fundraising record.<\p> The university drew a record-setting amount of individual donations to the Owl Club — Rice Athletics’ fundraising arm — with 1,799 donors, Rice said July 18. Additionally, donations surpassed $2 million for the second consecutive year, reaching over $2.05 million for fiscal year 2023-24.<\p>
Local developer adds 1st build-to-rent community
Cypress-based Caldwell Communities is developing its first build-to-rent community, joining several other local companies that have jumped on the trend in recent years.<\p> Mirella is located in the Tomball area northwest of Houston, at 18131 Bluegrass Park Lane, across from Oakcrest Intermediate School and near Tomball Memorial High School.<\p>
Midstream co. ditches MLP structure
Summit Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: SMLP) shareholders have officially voted to transition the company from a master limited partnership to a C-corporation as the MLP trend dies off. <\p> More than 88% of votes were cast in favor of the transition away from the MLP structure, which allows for the company to avoid the federal corporate tax and pass income taxes to individual unitholders based on the amount of units, the MLP equivalent of shares, they own. <\p>
Local bank expands again
Houston-based Agility Bank NA has expanded its operations in the region.<\p> The women-owned bank, which first opened its headquarters in May 2022, expanded its Webster loan production office with additional space and employees. Agility opened a 675-square-foot loan production office at 711 W. Bay Area Blvd. with three employees in August 2023. The bank recently added 1,191 square feet of space at the building and hired five new employees, Agility said.<\p>
IRS ERC moratorium could cost the agency billions
Efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on Employee Retention Credit fraud could cost the agency billions of dollars in interest payments.<\p> The IRS in an announcement in June said it had taken the time since its Sept. 14 moratorium on processing new ERC applications to analyze the more than 1 million ERC claims filed in 2023. Through that analysis, it found that between 60% and 70% of the applications showed an unacceptable level of risk.<\p>
Settlement reached in $10B LNG project dispute
After a few months of jockeying in bankruptcy court, Zachry Holdings and Golden Pass LNG say they've reached terms on a potential settlement.<\p> In a July 19 filing in the U.S. Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, lawyers on both sides say that the two have resolved to avoid litigation over a number of disputes related to the $10 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal being constructed in Sabine Pass, Texas. The settlement is awaiting bankruptcy judge Marvin Isgur's approval.<\p>
Local LNG co. to be sold in $1.2B deal
Houston-based Tellurian Inc. (NYSE American: TELL), which has been working to bring a liquefied natural gas facility to fruition for years, is being bought out by Australian oil and gas major Woodside Energy Group Ltd. (NYSE: WDS). <\p> In an all-cash transaction, Woodside will buy Tellurian for about $900 million, which comes to $1.2 billion with debt included. The value of the company is set at $1 per outstanding share of Tellurian, representing a 75% premium to Tellurian’s closing price on July 19 and a 48% premium to Tellurian’s 30-day volume-weighted average price. <\p>
Pickleball club expands to The Woodlands, elsewhere
Elite Pickleball Club is expanding.<\p> The indoor pickleball concept founded by former professional player Shellton Jean Baptiste and his wife, Debi, signed a lease for a 40,000-square-foot build-to-suit space in The Woodlands, at FM 1488 and Kuykendahl Road.<\p>
Houston Business Journal
5K+
Posts
693K+
Views
The Houston region's source for local business news, breaking news alerts, newsletters, business intelligence and local business networking. An American City Business Journals publication.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.