BEAUMONT, TEXAS — Houston-based Baker Katz has signed Republic Chicken, a family-style restaurant serving Southern comfort food, to a new lease in Beaumont. Located at the corner of Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 96, the new 5,443-square-foot location sits on nearly 1.3 acres. Republic Chicken will move from its current location at 797 N. 5th St. in Beaumont. Lunden McGill represented Baker Katz internally in the lease transaction.
HOUSTON — Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) has begun work on a 727,600-square-foot distribution center in north Houston. The project is a build-to-suit for Grocers Supply, a division of C&S Wholesale Grocers, which has signed a long-term lease. The property will feature 40-foot clear heights, 65-foot speed bays, 75 dock doors and parking for 211 trailers and 667 cars. Completion is slated for the second quarter of 2019. Liberty Property Trust has also sold 34 acres located adjacent to the project site to the tenant.
SAN ANTONIO — REEP Equity, a San Antonio-based multifamily investment firm, has acquired two apartment communities totaling 537 units in San Antonio. The properties are 4000 Horizon Hill, a 273-unit community featuring two pools and a fitness center, and Northgate Village, a 264-unit property featuring a pool and a picnic area. Mark Brandenburg and C.W. Sheehan of JLL arranged acquisition financing for the transaction through NXT Capital.
DALLAS — San Francisco-based investment firm Berkeley Partners has sold seven industrial properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area totaling approximately 1 million square feet. The warehouse and light industrial assets encompass 28 buildings and are part of an 11-property portfolio that was 87 percent leased at the time of sale. Adam Herrin, Stephen Bailey, Chris Norvell and Ralph Smalley of HFF represented Berkeley Partners in the sale. A partnership between California-based private equity firm Circle Industrial and international investment firm FREO Group purchased the properties for an undisclosed price.
VICTORIA, TEXAS — The University of Houston-Victoria (UH-Victoria) has broken ground on Don & Mona Smith Hall, a $22.8 million student housing property in Victoria, about 115 miles southeast of San Antonio. The on-campus property will consist of 272 beds and span 82,000 square feet. Some amenities are still being determined, but the property will include a gaming lounge and an outdoor courtyard with seating and sports activities. Morganti Texas Inc. is serving as construction manager on the project, and Brave Architecture is handling its design. Completion is slated for August 2019.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $21.4 million Fannie Mae first mortgage loan for Madison at Melrose Apartment Homes, a 200-unit multifamily community located in the northern Dallas metro of Richardson. The property was built in 1995 and is situated on 11.2 acres. Caleb Marten of KeyBank structured the 10-year loan, which features five years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan will be used to refinance existing debt.
For the last several years, Fort Worth’s retail market has posted a vacancy rate of 5 to 6 percent, suggesting that absorption is strong yet new construction is still permissible. However, there is a difference between Fort Worth’s vacancy rate and that of comparably sized markets wherein 95 percent of the retail space is occupied. In Fort Worth, occupancy is evenly distributed from submarket to submarket. Because of this balance, the metro’s most thriving retail neighborhood — the university corridor — and the driving forces behind its growth often go overlooked. Perhaps because it has only one campus that is located within a large city and even larger metropolex, Texas Christian University (TCU) doesn’t always get the credit it deserves for driving retail growth in Fort Worth. Rarely in recent history, however, has the connection between the two been more visible. According to the school’s website, its total enrollment was approximately 10,400 students during the academic year ending in May 2017. Three years earlier, that figure stood at roughly 9,700. That difference of 700 or so students may not seem like much at first. But it bears reminding that these are young adults attending a private university. This means that …
HOUSTON — Crow Holdings Industrial, the industrial development arm of Dallas-based Crow Holdings, has broken ground on Victory Commerce Center, a 349,050-square-foot distribution center in Houston. The tilt-wall property will feature 32-foot clear heights, 185-foot truck courts and additional outside storage space. The property is located on the city’s southeast side, near Port Houston, Beltway 8 and State Highway 225. Delivery is slated for the first quarter of 2019.
DALLAS — Irving-based multifamily developer JPI has begun work on Phase II of Jefferson West Love, a project that will deliver an additional 354 units to the Dallas apartment property. Amenities at the community, which currently consists of 368 units, include a pool, fitness center and bike storage. The community is part of a $200 million mixed-use development that upon completion will include up to 200,000 square feet of office space, 65,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a 244-room hotel.
HOUSTON — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has arranged the sale of two apartment communities totaling 412 units in southwest Houston. The sold properties include Airport Landing, a 240-unit property that was built in 1983, and Airport Gardens, a 172-unit property that was built in 1982. Jennifer Campbell and Will Balthrope of IPA represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Florida-based One Real Estate Investment LLC.
