1885 St. James Place

The latest iteration of the Mission Companies’ dedication to excellence in commercial real estate design and execution, 1885 St. James Place is the new gem of Uptown Houston. The Class A boutique office building is currently leased by tenants in the energy, engineering, insurance, import/export, financial services, accounting, and legal sectors. Construction was performed by Tellepsen Builders and leasing is handled by Jones Lang LaSalle.

St. James Place History: From Night to Day

The 1885 St. James location is forever etched in many Houstonians’ memories, although possibly for different reasons. Some remember it for its days in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when it was the grounds of a swinging nightclub called Elan (which appeared in the film Urban Cowboy), and later a disco called The Ocean Club. But most recall it as the home of the Courtyard on St. James Place, a popular wedding venue and special events center famous for its picturesque, ivy-colored walls.

The Mission Companies purchased the site in 2013 and in 2014, after demolishing the existing structure, broke ground on a new building specially designed to bring Class A office space to a mature submarket. The building was delivered in the summer of 2016.  

Why a Boutique Office Building?

Boutique buildings are one of the hottest trends in commercial real estate development today. Tenants--from small firms to divisions of mega-corporations--are looking for small and stylish office spaces that are tailored to their daily operations but also apportioned with modern conveniences. And often a small building is able to utilize land that would be infeasible for a larger building, which opens the door to some excellent locations.<p>

With its immediate access to Post Oak Boulevard, Uptown, the Galleria, and the Westheimer corridor, the St. James location was an enticing prospect. The Mission Companies recognized a need for premium-quality office space, in an area where the vast majority of similar office buildings were already more than 30 years old, that could cater to professionals residing in the affluent Houston neighborhoods of Tanglewood, River Oaks, and Memorial. At the same time, the Galleria area has proven itself virtually immune to lags in the economy, making it an ideal target for consistently low vacancy rates for the foreseeable future.

In short, what Mission saw in 1885 St. James Place was opportunity: an opportunity to bring the latest construction techniques to bear in crafting an elegant, efficient, and full-featured office building. An opportunity to build a distinctive new icon at an iconic location that will last for many years to come. An opportunity to use our decades of design and management experience to deliver doctors, attorneys, engineers, and other stripes of commercial tenants we serve a place where they can be proud to go to work every day.

Amenities and Features

1885 St. James Place offers almost 160,000 square feet of rentable office space across nine floors, with six floors of above-grade parking, on a 1.13-acre site. To achieve a classic, organic appearance, we used a stone facade with a podium-style structure and included decorative masonry on the upper levels and three accessible balconies along the southern face. <p>

The building holds a Class A designation from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), which is reserved for the “most prestigious buildings” with “high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and a definite market presence.” The building is feature-rich, boasting a conference center and a fitness center, as well as on-site dining, security, and property management.<p>

For more details, please visit www.1885stjames.com.