Depending on who’s speaking, or what you’re reading, the forecasts for the 2016 Houston industrial real estate market run the full spectrum from bull to bear. Whether you are a landlord trying to fill a vacancy; a developer weighing the decision on whether to build or not; or an investor or a potential tenant looking for the best lease terms, your decision making is driven by a few key factors. These include the price of oil and where you think it is headed, the type of industrial facility you build/own/require, and in what submarket of Houston it is located. With current oil prices hovering in the low $30s per barrel, and threatening to go lower, you don’t have to look hard to find plenty of economists forecasting a rough 2016 for Houston industrial real estate. But that’s not the whole picture. No doubt the ongoing drilling downturn has hit the city hard. A recent survey was conducted of single-tenant manufacturing facilities ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 square feet in the West, Northwest and North Houston submarkets. The survey reported over 2.4 million square feet available in 120 buildings, with an additional 240,000 square feet under construction in 15 more buildings. …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Bazaarvoice, an Austin-based tech company specializing in user-generated content marketing, will move to a new headquarters in the Quarry Oaks business park in north Austin. The new, 137,615-square-foot building will be home to Bazaarvoice’s 600 Austin employees, with room for future expansion. Austin-based Riverside Resources will develop the new headquarters. The Class A structure will feature outdoor decks, curtain wall glass, steel beams and exposed interior concrete. In addition to working with Riverside Resources, CBRE’s workplace strategy team partnered with Bazaarvoice to design the space. HKS designed the building’s shell, lauckgroup handled interior design and Harvey-Cleary served as the general contractor. CBRE represented Bazaarvoice in the site search and lease negotiations. The new office also features a Whole Foods Market Café.
MIDLAND, TEXAS — MCR Development has completed the renovation of Residence Inn by Marriott Midland, a 131-room hotel. The hotel is located near energy, construction and healthcare corporations in Midland, and is in walking distance of Security Bank Ballpark. Renovations included updating all guestrooms and public spaces. The lobby and meeting room were redesigned to provide guests with more space to interact, while the fitness center received new exercise equipment and weights.
PASADENA, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Parkview East Shopping Center, a 39,186-square-foot retail property located in Pasadena. Jerry Goldstein of Marcus & Millichap’s Houston office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. Parkview East is just north of Bayshore Hospital and has a tenant lineup including Jason’s Deli, Humana, Shipley’s Donuts and Ryan’s Cleaners. The property is 100 percent leased and located at 3901 Spencer Highway. The buyer purchased it utilizing a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.
DALLAS — Rebecca Harrell of Henry S. Miller represented Nguyen Family Medicine in the lease of a medical office in Dallas. Nguyen Family Medicine will be opening a new family clinic at 8420 Abrams Road in the Town Creek Shopping Center, located at the corner of Abrams Road and Royal Lane. Steve Music of The Steve Music Co. represented Town Creek Shopping Center in the lease.
CEDAR PARK, TEXAS — Trulan Property Advisors has brokered the sale of a Logan’s Roadhouse ground lease at 1345 E. Whitestone Blvd. in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. The location is part of 1890 Ranch, an 875,000-square-foot regional shopping center. Logan’s Roadhouse is an outparcel to Super Target. Other co-tenants in the development include Academy Sports + Outdoors, Cinemark, Gold’s Gym and Ross Dress for Less. The building is situated on 1.1 acres. Jason Middlebrook of Trulan Property Advisors represented the out-of-state seller in the transaction. David Browne with Midtown Realty Group represented the buyer, a Texas-based investor.
LAS COLINAS, TEXAS — Skanska has signed a $94 million contract with the ARK Group of Charlotte, N.C., to build the Irving Music Factory in Las Colinas. Skanska will convert the existing 16.8-acre greenfield site into an entertainment destination. The new project will include an 8,000-seating capacity indoor/outdoor concert hall called the Pavilion operated by Live Nation. The venue includes seven buildings offering more than 250,000 square feet of entertainment, retail and restaurant space and an eight-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Additionally, there will be a four-story, 100,000-square-foot office tower sitting atop a six-level, 1,200-space parking garage. The project also features a 50,000-square-foot plaza and four outdoors stages. The venue is designed to host a variety of events, including music performances, fashion shows, farmers markets and food festivals throughout the year. Gensler is the architect for the project. Construction for the venue is expected to commence this month and is slated for completion in June 2017.
HOUSTON — Houston-based Baker Katz, an X Team International partner and full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm, has purchased 30,000 square feet of land and completed a 7,000-square-foot lease on the property on behalf of Advance Auto Parts. Advance Auto Parts will be located at the intersection of FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield Road. Construction will begin in February and opening is slated for May 2016. Traci Holman and Jason Baker of Baker Katz represented Advance Auto Parts. Founded in 1932, Advance Auto Parts has grown to operate more than 5,200 stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. The retail store is the largest automotive aftermarket automobile parts provider in North America.
LUBBOCK, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC), a provider of commercial real estate financing and capital markets expertise, has arranged a bridge loan to refinance an apartment complex in Lubbock. Peter Muntz, a director in MMCC’s Chicago Downtown office, arranged the debt placement. The non-recourse, interest-only debt placement was structured with a 14-month term and a fixed interest rate. The property is a garden-style apartment complex with more than 300 units.
PEARLAND, TEXAS — Robert Loeb, Jeff Bailey and Brian Cisarik of SurePoint Self Storage plan to open a fourth location in the Houston market. The new self-storage property will be located in Pearland near the intersection of Broadway and Kirby drives. Additionally, SurePoint Self Storage is poised to begin construction in the next 60 days on their third facility in the Houston market, a three-story, 119,000-square-foot self-storage facility on Barker Cypress Road in Houston. The SurePoint team is concluding construction on a similar project on Spring Cypress Road just east of Grant Road in Cypress, as well as a four-story self-storage building in Richmond near Highway 59 and the Grand Parkway.