The Texas Medical Center's most recognizable landmark now belongs to Texas Children's Hospital.

The hospital announced Tuesday that it has acquired the O'Quinn Medical Tower, well known for the spires atop the building often described as resembling a pair of hypodermic needles.

Texas Children's did not disclose the purchase price, but the 29-story tower cost $95 million to develop in 1990.

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The tower has served as a professional building for St. Luke's Hospital doctors since 1990.

Texas Children's also bought the building that serves as Baylor College of Medicine's outpatient clinic, the hospital announced. The decision to create that clinic led to the historic 2005 split between the medical school and Houston Methodist Hospital, its longtime partner.

"It is a great day for Texas Children's - for the children and women and families we take care of - to acquire these iconic medical center buildings," said Mark Wallace, president and CEO of Texas Children's. "They represent an investment in our mission and will expand our opportunity to further our commitment to the children, women and families we serve in the Houston community."

Texas Children's bought the buildings from the Baylor-St. Luke's partnership created after Catholic Health Initiatives purchased St. Luke's in 2013. Baylor and the Colorado-based Catholic system subsequently formed a joint venture to complete the medical school's long-shelved medical complex and make it the replacement for St. Luke's aging facility in the Medical Center.

Texas Children's has been Baylor's pediatric teaching hospital since its inception in 1954, when it shared facilities with St. Luke's.

Robert Williamson, a senior managing director at commercial real estate firm HFF, said the market in the Medical Center area remains strong, despite the collapse in oil prices that has weakened the city's office market. He said that investors "realize the Medical Center is really insulated from everything else going on in the economy."

He said land in the greater area sells for between $150 and $250 per square foot, higher the closer in it is to the Medical Center.

Texas Children's will continue to lease the O'Quinn tower and the Baylor Clinic to the existing tenants until the new Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center is fully open in 2020. The center, on the McNair campus near the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, will then replace St. Luke's in the Medical Center.

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Dr. Paul Klotman, president of Baylor, said it was always the plan to fund construction of the new campus by selling off assets such as the clinic and O'Quinn tower. He said the sale shows the joint venture's "total commitment" to the new complex and called it "great for Texas Children's, which needs the space."

David Perryman, director of real estate services at Texas Children's Hospital, said a plan for the newly acquired buildings is still being determined.

"We're going to be incorporating this in the overall master plan of the campus," Perryman said. "We've got a pretty large expansion going on."

Within the Medical Center's boundaries, Texas Children's owns and occupies multiple buildings, including the Pavilion for Women, the West Tower, the Feigin Center, the Abercrombie building and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institution. He said there are no plans to sell any of the hospital's existing facilities.

Texas Children's has the right to change the name from the O'Quinn Medical Tower, Perryman said, but there are no immediate plans to do so. It was named after lawyer John O'Quinn in recognition of his 2005 gift of $25 million to the hospital. The gift and naming was highly controversial with doctors at the time because O'Quinn made millions taking the health care industry to trial.

The facility was designed by renowned Argentine architect Cesar Pelli and built by the Hines real estate firm. The postmodern look was somewhat controversial when it opened in 1990.

The deals closed Monday night, Texas Children's officials said. Dan Bellow, Mindy Berman and David Bale from JLL represented Texas Children's in the transaction.