DALLAS — SRS Real Estate Partners, a full-service commercial real estate services firm based in Dallas, has launched an industrial division. Brant Landry, formerly of Landry Commercial Real Estate Services, will lead the Dallas-based SRS Industrial team comprising Joseph Cooper, Shannon Johnston, Dennis Sims, Lance Woodward and Stephanie Martin. Cooper, Johnston and Martin also join SRS from Landry Commercial. Sims was most recently with Mohr Partners Inc., while Woodward comes from Henry S. Miller Brokerage. SRS Industrial is also in the process of building teams in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and New York.
PHOENIX — Creation RE, a Phoenix-based real estate investment and development firm, and J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives have created a joint venture with plans to invest $1 billion in industrial, warehouse and logistics real estate projects across four states. The partners have released plans to capitalize and develop seven projects, three of which have already closed and four in the pipeline. The properties total approximately 5 million square feet in Newmark, N.J.; Melville and Islandia, N.Y.; Fort Worth, Texas; and Chandler, Gilbert and Phoenix, Ariz.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — BentallGreenOak (BGO), an institutional investment and property management firm with offices in Toronto, New York City, London and Tokyo, has opened a new office in Austin. Industry professionals in the new office will focus on deepening BGO’s investor relations activities in the region and developing new operating and development partnerships. The company has hired Mike Leifeste, formerly of the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Co., to lead the new office as managing director and head of Texas coverage.
BETHESDA, MD. AND COSTA MESA, CALIF. — Bethesda-based retail real estate owner First Washington Realty (FWR) has purchased Donahue Schriber Realty Group Inc., a shopping center owner based in Costa Mesa. An affiliate of FWR acquired the private retail REIT and its portfolio of grocery-anchored, open-air centers from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives. The transaction adds 47 shopping centers, as well as one DSRG-owned office property, for a combined 6 million square feet to FWR’s holdings. The sales price was not disclosed, but Bloomberg reported in February that the negotiations for the deal valued DSRG and its assets at north of $3 billion. The news outlet also reports that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) was an equity partner with FWR on the deal and that JPMorgan Asset Management and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) were among DSRG’s largest investors. For FWR, the deal expands its presence on the West Coast, including in high-profile markets such as the Bay Area, Orange County, Seattle, Portland, San Diego and Sacramento. The deal also expands FWR’s corporate base on the West Coast, as its executive management team now oversees DSRG’s existing offices in Orange County, San …
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Whataburger, a Corpus Christi-based fast food burger chain, is opening its first metro Atlanta restaurants this year. The two locations will be situated at 705 Town Park Lane NW in Kennesaw and 9766 GA-92 in Woodstock. At its Kennesaw location, Whataburger plans to hire 180 employees, and to employ more than 1,400 employees in the metro Atlanta area restaurants by the end of 2023. In 2023, other Whataburger locations will open around metro Atlanta including at 503 Lakeland Plaza in Cumming; SEQ Buford Drive and Exchange Drive in Buford; 3321 Lexington Road in Athens; 3201 Atlanta Highway in Athens; 100 Pottery Road in Commerce; and 15 Wallace Blvd. in Dawsonville. Whataburger currently has one Georgia restaurant in Thomasville. The burger chain has over 880 locations across 14 states.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Berkadia’s New Jersey office has expanded its investment sales team with the addition of six professionals. Nat Gambuzza, Spencer Beriont, Trevor Fiebel, Tim Blashford, Brian Antognini and Mike O’Reilly all join Berkadia from CBRE. The team will specialize in handling portfolio sales, distressed property deals, note sales and 1031 tax exchange transactions for private investors, partnerships, lenders and institutions of varying net worth.
HOUSTON — NewQuest Properties, a Houston-based retail development, brokerage and management firm, has launched a division to provide similar services to the city’s multifamily sector. NewQuest, which owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial space, has tapped industry veteran John Leonard to lead the new division. Leonard most recently served as senior vice president and CFO of developer Sueba USA.
TORRANCE, CALIF. — Stuart Klabin, the founder of The Klabin Co./CORFAC International, has passed away at age 90. Klabin, who founded Torrance-based The Klabin Co. in 1961, was a pioneer in Los Angeles industrial real estate and enjoyed decades of success both as a broker and developer. Klabin was also the founder of the American Industrial Real Estate Association. While Klabin was not involved with the day-to-day operations of the Klabin Co. for the past more than 20 years, he served as chairman emeritus until his passing. Over the past several years, Klabin maintained a connection to The Klabin Co. through the real estate assets he developed and owned in the greater Los Angeles region. CORFAC International, formerly known as Corporate Facility Advisors, is a network for independently owned commercial real estate firms. CORFAC currently has over 75 offices worldwide.
HOUSTON — California-based investment firm BH Properties has opened a new office at 15721 Park Row in West Houston to help manage its growing portfolio of commercial properties in Texas. Brady Wilkins, a 30-year industry veteran, will lead the new office as senior asset manager. BH Properties’ recent Texas acquisitions include a 127,955-square-foot office building in the western Houston suburb of Katy and an 86,640-square-foot industrial building in the Rio Grande Valley city of Harlingen. All told, about 40 percent of the properties that comprise the firm’s 10 million-square-foot commercial portfolio are located in Texas.
HOUSTON — Realty Trust Group, a healthcare real estate advisory firm with six offices across the Southeast, has expanded into Texas with the opening of a new office at 2200 Post Oak Blvd. in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. Services offered will include healthcare real estate advisory, market analytics, project development, brokerage, property management and regulatory compliance support. Craig Flanagan, an industry veteran who joined Realty Trust Group in 2012, will lead the new office.