After an exhaustive search, Stream Realty Partners found a new headquarters for Energy Transfer, a Houston-based midstream energy company ready to grow into a larger home.
Energy Transfer, which had owned and operated in a 508,000-square-foot tower in downtown Houston since 2011, purchased an office tower across town last year. The building, at 5555 San Felipe St. in the Uptown/Galleria area, is a 41-story, 1.2 million-square-foot property that was formerly known as the Marathon Oil Tower. Along with needing more space, Energy Transfer was seeking a property with better parking.
The project has earned a 2026 CoStar Impact Award for Sale/Acquisition of the Year for Houston, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Economically, the deal was highly attractive compared to a traditional lease. Leveraging its strong balance sheet, Energy Transfer completed a cash purchase for $60 million at a 65% reduction from the building's most recent sale price, in 2018, of $176.5 million. This provided significant capital flexibility for further improvements and future strategic options, including potential shifts in occupancy strategy.
Before the sale in 2025, the building had been largely vacant — around 70% — since Marathon exited in 2021 due to post-COVID challenges. With the four-year vacancy in much of the building, Energy Transfer was able to move in right away and have ample room for growth.
Previous ownership invested approximately $15 million in renovations, achieving LEED Silver certification. Energy Transfer's employees will benefit from an upgraded lobby featuring new collaborative areas, a state-of-the-art media wall, a coffee bar, a food hall and a modern fitness center with country-club-style locker rooms. The property also addresses parking needs with an on-site connected garage.
The transaction delivered substantial market impact by absorbing 815,000 square feet of Class A vacancy immediately. In the Galleria submarket where Class A Tier II vacancy stood at 43.5%, this reduced overall vacancy by 16.34%. This transaction resulted in the single largest reduction of space in the last twenty years of the Galleria submarket. The move will also inject significant economic activity into the surrounding area and spurred other owners to advance renovations on comparable assets.
The acquisition of 5555 San Felipe has proven highly successful for Energy Transfer. Completed in early 2025, it revitalized a prominent but underutilized trophy tower, positioned the company in a modern, amenity-rich headquarters suited to talent attraction and long-term growth, and delivered exceptional value through strategic timing and pricing. This move strengthens Energy Transfer's Houston presence while contributing positively to the office market recovery.
About the project: Starwood sold the property to Energy Transfer for $60 million. The buyer was represented by Stream Realty Partners, and the seller broker was Eastdil Securities.
What the judges said: "Office sales have been stagnant in Houston — 5555 San Felipe being sold to a large user significantly improves the Galleria submarket and helps create market pricing for value-add office in Houston," said Matt Berry, senior vice president at CBRE.
"The impact to the surrounding area [is] a reduction in vacancy. This sale reiterates the need for revitalization in this area by owners invested in this market and not just leaders," said Stephanie Graves, CEO of Q10 Property Advisors.
"Energy Transfer's $60 million, all-cash acquisition of the 1.2-million-square-foot former Marathon Oil Tower delivers the most quantifiable and transformative market impact of any nominee. The deal absorbed 815,000 square feet of Class A vacancy in a single transaction — reducing Galleria submarket vacancy by 16.34%, the largest single-deal reduction in over 20 years," said Bill McGrath, president at LandPark Advisors. "Purchased at a 65% discount to the building's 2018 sale price ($176.5 million), the transaction combines exceptional financial value with strategic execution: no financing required, a distressed asset revitalized after four years of near-vacancy, and a ripple effect that catalyzed competing owners to advance their own renovations."
They made it happen: Dan Harris, vice chairman and managing director at Stream Realty Partners LP; Tripp Pruet, vice president at Stream Realty Partners LP