HOUSTON — BP Lower 48, a Denver-based subsidiary of oil and gas giant BP, has signed a 91,000-square-foot office lease at West Memorial Place, a 716,000-square-foot office campus located in Houston’s Energy Corridor. The two-building property, which is owned by Skanska, features a fitness center, café, car wash service and surrounding hiking trails. Louis Rosenthal and Anya Marmuscak of JLL represented BP Lower 48 in the transaction. The company will move in later this year.
SPRING, TEXAS — NAI Partners has negotiated a 35,000-square-foot industrial lease at 27347 W. Hardy Road in the northern Houston suburb of Spring. Darren O’Conor of NAI Partners represented the tenant, Installed Building Products of Houston LLC, in the lease negotiations. James Schuepbach and Lisa Nickel of Ryoak Real Estate Group represented the landlord, Giddy Up Development LLC.
HOUSTON — HFF has negotiated the sale of WaterWall Place, a 322-unit multifamily community located in Houston’s Uptown area. Completed in 2014, the property features one- and two-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, coffee bar, outdoor grilling area and private resident lounge. Todd Marix, Chris Curry and Estee Ibanez of HFF represented the seller, Hines, in the transaction. The buyer was multifamily investment and management firm HASTA Capital, which acquired the asset free and clear of existing debt. Matt Kafka and Kelly Layne of HFF arranged an undisclosed amount of fixed-rate acquisition financing for the deal through Barings Real Estate.
HOUSTON — Dornin Investment Group (DIG), an asset management firm with offices in California and Nevada, has sold 1250 Woodbranch and 11931 Wickchester, two adjacent office buildings totaling 164,933 square feet in Houston’s Energy Corridor. DIG acquired the Class B properties in 2013 and sold them to two separate, undisclosed investment groups. The new ownership of the Woodbranch building plans to upgrade the property’s common areas. DIG will continue to lease and manage that property as well.
PLANO, TEXAS — Bob Moore Construction has begun work on a 55,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Plano for Signazon, an online retailer and supplier of signs, banners and marketing materials. The property includes an unspecified amount of office space. GFF Architecture designed the tilt-wall project, which is expected to be complete by early 2019.
NEW CANEY, TEXAS — Arch-Con Construction, a general contractor with offices in Dallas and Houston, has broken ground on an 11,000-square-foot medical office building in New Caney, a northern suburb of Houston. The property will be situated within Grand Texas, a mixed-use development by GT Operating Co. that includes a theme park, a water park, hotels and restaurants. Browne McGregor Architects is the architect of the project, which will deliver primary care offices and an urgent care clinic. Completion is scheduled for early 2019.
DALLAS — Secure Collateral Management, a Dallas-based financial services firm specializing in locating and recovering collateralized assets, has signed a 22,000-square-foot office lease in Dallas. The firm is relocating from its current space to Lake Highlands Tower, a recently renovated office building that includes a bank, barbershop, café and conference center. Blake Shipley, Jay Bailey and Ashley Curry of JLL represented the landlord, Malouf Interests, in the lease negotiations.
A mere 80 miles separates Austin and San Antonio, the anchors of the growing Interstate 35 corridor. The two cities have some fundamental cultural differences but share certain economic drivers that have produced healthy retail real estate markets in both metros, albeit with varied results. The most basic economic drivers common to both metro areas are population and employment growth. Like other Texas cities, the Austin and San Antonio metro areas continue to experience a steady stream of new residents and jobs. Although San Antonio often takes a backseat to Austin in various rankings, the Alamo City topped this year’s national list for largest raw numeric growth in population among all U.S. cities of 50,000 or more, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Austin landed at No. 12 in this category. However, Forbes ranks Austin second among America’s Best Cities for Jobs while San Antonio lags at No. 13. Joined at the Hip Because both cities and the small towns that surround them are growing at phenomenal paces, central Texas is starting to be identified in terms of Austin and San Antonio, not Austin vs. San Antonio. And although this concept has been talked about for years, retail development along …
BOSTON — Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have released the annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, citing the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex as the top market in the country for overall real estate growth and prospects in 2019. According to the report, DFW has the strongest localized economy in the country, ranks 11th in terms of investor demand, 10th with regard to development and redevelopment opportunities and 12th in availability of debt and equity capital. Factors such as high rates of job and population growth, a healthy pace of startup activity and the presence of a productive, educated workforce contributed to this ranking.
MCKINNEY, MISSOURI CITY AND LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS — CBRE has negotiated the sale of a three-property retail portfolio located on the outskirts of Dallas and Houston. Combined, McKinney Towne Crossing in metro Dallas, and Riverstone Shopping Center and Victory Lakes Town Center in metro Houston, feature more than 885,000 square feet of Class A retail space. Chris Gerard, Mark Witcher and Blaine Dozier of CBRE represented the seller, Chicago-based InvenTrust Properties, in the transaction. Houston-based Fidelis Realty Partners purchased the assets for an undisclosed price. The portfolio was 94 percent leased at the time of sale.