A $75.8 million nonperforming loan tied to a big slice of the CityNorth office campus in north Houston has hit the market, giving investors a relatively quick route to ownership if they are willing to wade into distress. The note covers roughly one million square feet of office and retail on the former ExxonMobil campus and is being offered through a deed-in-escrow structure that shortens the path to title. Brokers are taking offers in a tight mid-May window, positioning this as one of the most closely watched distressed-debt plays in Houston so far this year.
Loan, Listing And Terms
As reported by The Real Deal, JLL is marketing the $75.8 million nonperforming loan tied to a roughly 1,000,000-square-foot portion of CityNorth, and the default works out to about $72 per square foot. The outlet notes that the loan was originated by Deutsche Bank in 2021 and is secured by three office buildings and two retail structures, with bids due May 12.
What The Offering Shows
JLL’s offering materials frame the sale as a deed-in-escrow opportunity that could let a successful note buyer move into ownership quickly and reposition the campus, and they peg occupancy at roughly 73.6 percent as of January 2026, according to JLL. The listing pitches several value-creation strategies, from lease-up to repositioning or alternative-use conversion, and it spotlights the amenity package added under Lincoln Property’s stewardship.
Other Pieces Of The Campus Are Being Shopped
Separate marketing materials show Colliers is handling listings for other CityNorth buildings marketed as CityNorth 1, 5 and 6, a sign that the campus keeps getting carved up and tested for sale, according to Colliers. Colliers' flyers and brokers have repeatedly put pieces of the complex on the block in recent months, suggesting a multi-track disposition strategy for the owner group.
Renovation And Past Bets
Lincoln Property acquired the former ExxonMobil campus and poured roughly $80 million into renovations that wrapped in late 2019, adding a fitness center, a 10,000-square-foot conference center and a 6,000-square-foot entertainment space with a golf simulator, as reported by the Houston Business Journal. The overhaul was aimed at rebranding Greenspoint and luring corporate tenants, but broader market headwinds have kept leasing progress uneven.
Houston Market Backdrop
The note sale is another example of the split performance in Houston’s office market, where a flight-to-quality has put older suburban inventory under pressure while newer, amenitized product pulls ahead. Market reports show metro vacancy hovering in the high-20 percent range, according to data from Avison Young, a backdrop that has pushed lenders and owners to test debt sales and deed-in-escrow structures.
What Buyers Will Weigh
Investors will have to balance the advertised fast track to ownership with the heavy leasing and repositioning work likely needed to restore cash flow. The roughly $72 per-square-foot basis noted by The Real Deal looks cheap on paper, but marketing materials and brokers alike caution that any upside depends on committing fresh capital to lease-up or to repositioning underperforming space, per JLL.
Bids for the loan are due May 12, and the outcome will serve as a test of investor appetite for large, suburban, amenitized office campuses in Houston's Greenspoint area. Whoever ends up with the note will inherit a modernized campus, along with the same market headwinds that have fueled distress across the city.
