MCALLEN, TEXAS — Hilton Worldwide has opened the Embassy Suites by Hilton McAllen Convention Center, the brand’s first hotel in south Texas. The property features Design Option III, which emphasizes space efficiency. The hotel is located three miles from McAllen Miller International Airport and near several manufacturing facilities in Mexico. The hotel includes 12,000 square feet of event space for conferences, weddings and holiday parties. The main ballroom may accommodate as many as 600 guests and can also be divided into five smaller spaces.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Realtex Development Corp., in conjunction with Generation Housing Development, has opened Windy Ridge Apartments in Austin. The complex is a 120-unit affordable housing community. Situated on 11.9 acres at 10910 Ranch Road 620, the development consists of six residential buildings spanning two and three stories, as well as a community/leasing clubhouse. Windy Ridge Apartments offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units, and each unit comes with a covered entry, coat closet and a covered patio or balcony. Each bedroom includes a walk-in closet. Community amenities include a full perimeter fence and controlled access gates, swimming pool, picnic areas with barbeque grills, fitness center, business/computer center, furnished community room and on-site property management staff.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — JLL has brokered an 86,100-square-foot industrial lease for Shorr Packaging in Grand Prairie. The packaging solutions company’s new distribution center will be in Wildlife Commerce Park, Building II located at 2250 Lion Country Parkway. This is the company’s first location in Texas. JLL’s Craig Jones and Elizabeth Jones negotiated the lease on behalf of the tenant. Will Mundinger, John Bateman and Drew Tappan internally represented the landlord, Crow Holdings. Shorr Packaging is based in Aurora, Ill., and currently has 15 locations across the United States.
DENTON, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Palmwood, a 16-unit apartment property located in Denton. Nick Fluellen, Bard Hoover and Evan Burke of Marcus & Millichap’s Dallas office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. Fluellen, Hoover and Burke also procured the buyer, an individual/personal trust. Palmwood is located at 1100 Palmwood Place. Constructed in 1970, Palmwood consists of 16 one-bedroom units, each spanning 710 square feet. The property recently underwent more than $149,000 in capital improvements, including a new asphalt parking lot, coin-operated laundry facility and 30-year dimensional shingle roof. The property is situated within three miles from both Texas Woman’s University and the University of North Texas.
Outsiders looking at the Houston industrial real estate market may automatically presume doom and gloom for all commercial real estate segments due to the significant downturn in the oil and gas industry during 2015 and 2016. When it comes to the Houston industrial sector, we caution not to jump to that conclusion too fast! In 2016, the Houston regional economy has much more going for it that creates industrial real estate demand than simply oil and gas. Momentum from economic drivers not dependent upon the oil and gas industry are stabilizing industrial real estate. They are also helping counter the drag on the area’s economy that may be attributed to excess inventory and price deflation in oil and gas. Through the end of the year, we expect activity in industrial leasing to remain relatively stable and to offer rental rates that are comparable to early 2016. Our confidence in the stability of industrial real estate is partially based on our fundamental understanding about segmentation in the energy industry that directly impacts Houston’s industrial real estate utilization. Oil and gas is not a simple, homogenous industry with all segments moving in lock step. Clearly, the energy downturn has hit oil and …
LOS ANGELES — A joint venture between Douglas Emmett and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has purchased a 365,000-square-foot office property in the West Los Angeles submarket of Brentwood for $225 million. The Class A office building is located at 12100 Wilshire Blvd. The property will be 77 percent leased after a few impending vacancies. The space was acquired using a new secured, non-recourse, $90 million, interest-only loan that matures in July 2019. The loan bears interest at a floating rate of LIBOR plus 1.55 percent.
LOS ANGELES — Rockwood Capital has acquired Playa Jefferson, an 11-acre creative office campus in the Playa Vista submarket of Los Angeles, for a reported $165 million. The campus is located at 12777 W. Jefferson Blvd. Playa Jefferson contains four buildings that total 200,000 square feet. A fifth building containing 55,000 square feet is slated for construction later this year. The campus serves as the Los Angeles headquarters for Facebook. It is also home to Arup engineering firm, Omnicom advertising agency and R/GA Regus flexible workspace provider. The seller, Vantage Property Investors, transformed the ‘70s-era property into its current creative iteration. The campus is 93 percent leased.
ORANGE, CALIF. — BC 2 Environmental has leased 34,215 square feet of industrial manufacturing facilities in Orange. The leased space includes 3,600 of office space. The environmental and geotechnical drilling services provider signed two five-year leases for 1150 & 1250 W. Trenton Ave. The leases are valued at $2.1 million. Bryan Miller and Jim Snyder represented the landlord, Sukut Real Properties, in these transactions.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Ready Capital Structured Finance has closed a $5 million loan for the acquisition, renovation and stabilization of a 92-unit multifamily complex in Sacramento. The two-story community is situated 1.5 miles from the Capital City Freeway, which connects the property to downtown Sacramento. The two-year, non-recourse loan will help fund interior and exterior renovations. The loan features a one-year extension, along with flexible pre-payment. It also includes a facility to provide for interest and working capital reserves, as well as future funding for capital expenditures. Ready Capital Structured Finance originates, manages and finances non-recourse floating- and fixed-rate loans of up to five years on transitional, value-add, and event-driven commercial and multifamily real estate opportunities.
ANTIOCH, CALIF. — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the sale of The Crossings, a retail center located at the corner of Hillcrest Avenue and Deer Valley Road in Antioch, for an undisclosed price. A limited partnership managed by Beverly Hills-based CNA Enterprises sold the property to a partnership controlled by Campbell-based JK Properties. Safeway and Rite Aid anchor the 125,000-square-foot property. Michael Federle of SRS represented the seller, while Mark Thomas, also of SRS, represented the buyer in the deal.