HOUSTON — Coldwell Banker Commercial United Realtors has arranged the sale of 18,500 square feet of land located at 7415 Roswell St. in Houston. David Hummel of Coldwell Banker Commercial United Realtors represented the seller, and A & V Services Inc. was the buyer. The land will be used for a car dealership.
MIDLAND, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Western Park Plaza, a 91,353-square-foot retail property located in Midland. Philip Levy of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Worth office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Levy also represented the buyer, a developer. Western Park Plaza is located at 1012-1028 Andrews Highway. The center is 100 percent occupied, and all leases are triple net. Tenants include Miss Cayce’s Christmas Store, Day by Day, EnerVest, Family Dollar, Mobility Unlimited, Yates Carpets, BootCamp, Calvary Christian Fellowship Church and Garza Crossfit. The building was constructed in 1981 and sits on 7.4 acres. The center is shadow anchored by an Albertson’s grocery store and Ace Hardware.
SAN ANTONIO — Standridge Cos. and Legacy Capital Co. have formed a partnership and acquired multiple tracts totaling 45 acres within the Monterrey Village mixed-use commercial project at the southwest corner of Loop 410 and S.H. 151 in western San Antonio. The tracts are fully entitled and ready for development and sales to end-users and developers. The Monterrey Village acquisition is the second investment partnership between Legacy Capital and Standridge. The two companies recently completed a 33-acre project on the north side of SH 121 between Paige Road and Blair Oaks Drive, just northwest of Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony.
NORMAN, OKLA. — University House Communities (UHC), formerly known as Inland American Communities Group, will develop a new University House community on the site of the current Bishop’s Landing apartments near the University of Oklahoma. Construction will begin on the apartment community this fall, with a scheduled opening of August 2017. Leasing will begin by August 2016. The five-story, 388-unit development will feature 917 beds with studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom floor plans, all fully furnished. The community will also include amenities such as three outdoor courtyard areas, a clubroom, lounge, pool, 24-hour fitness center, parking and on-site management. Residents of University House will also have easy access to campus via the Norman CART bus system, with a transit hub directly across the street from the property. The project team consists of Humphrey’s & Partners Architects as the architect and Huitt-Zollars as the civil engineer. University House will be located near Brooks and Classen at 333 E. Brooks St. in Norman.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Presidium Group LLC, in partnership with St. Croix Capital Advisory Services Group, has acquired Hunterwood Apartments, a 160-unit apartment complex in Austin. The property was built in 1983. Presidium plans to implement value-add upgrades that will consist of aesthetic and finish improvements. Interior renovations will include the addition of granite countertops, tile backsplashes, faux wood flooring, new door and cabinet hardware, new plumbing and electrical fixtures, new appliances and a new paint scheme. Exterior upgrades will include modernizing the leasing center, the addition of a fitness center, pool area upgrades, landscaping additions and a new exterior paint scheme. Hunterwood is located in south Austin within a mile of South First Street and South Congress Avenue, two of the major access ways into downtown Austin. The property is a 15-minute drive from downtown Austin, Bergstrom Airport, the Sunset Valley shopping area, Barton Creek Square Mall and Circuit of the Americas. Hunterwood’s current amenities include a swimming pool, laundry facilities and a leasing center.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — KDC, in a joint venture with SH 71-130 Holdings GP, will develop a 100-acre parcel for build-to-suit office space in southeast Austin. The new office space will be part of a planned 390-acre mixed-use project at the intersection of Texas Highway 71 and State Highway 130. In addition to the office component, the mixed-use project will also include retail, multifamily, industrial and educational elements. It has received the Triple Freeport Designation, which allows schools, cities and counties to exempt business inventory from taxes if goods are shipped out of state within 175 days. Page is coordinating the architectural planning, and Kimley-Horn is the engineer.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has arranged the sale of The Kenzie at The Domain, a 279-unit, six-story multifamily complex in Austin. Will Balthrope and Drew Kile of IPA advised the seller, StreetLights Residential, and procured the buyer, an institutional investor. The Kenzie is located at 3201 Esperanza Crossing in The Domain, a master-planned development. The Domain includes 1 million square feet of retail, dining and entertainment options and 2.5 million square feet of office space. The Kenzie’s community amenities include a large fitness center, 17,000-square-foot resident entertainment area and a pool and fireside social area. Apartments include 10- or 13-foot ceilings, granite countertops, stainless steel sinks, Energy Star appliances and urban mud rooms.
The real estate capital markets are a funny thing — one minute you’re up and the next you’re down. The debt market starts making investors bring more equity to the table, reserves tied to energy-related tenancy are mandated, the four-letter word “recourse” is thrown around and more scrutiny is placed on every detail. No one wants to be laughed out of a committee meeting for trying to push through a multi-million dollar loan on an office building in the Energy Capital of the World. The same holds true in the equity market. Return requirements that fluctuate along the risk/return spectrum haven’t changed, but underwriting scrutiny has. Market rent growth has been scaled back or even gone negative, energy-related tenancy is being given a lower retention ratio or being downsized, downstream tenancy is more favorable than upstream tenancy, mark-to-market value-add strategies have been replaced with income preservation strategies, etc. Individually, these various reactions in the debt and equity market don’t have a huge impact on values. Combined, they have a material impact. You would think that this environment would bring about great opportunities for investors with a long-term, bullish view on Houston’s office market. Instead, most owners will be patient, electing …
SAN ANTONIO — Rendina Healthcare Real Estate has acquired Physicians Plaza II, a 63,905-square-foot medical office building on the campus of the Methodist Specialty & Transplant Hospital (MSTH) in San Antonio. The facility is located within the 900-acre South Texas Medical Center. Rendina’s immediate plans for the property include suite and common area renovations. MSTH, which has direct access to Physicians Plaza II via a covered walkway, is home to the Texas Transplant Institute, the busiest kidney transplant program in Texas and among the top 10 in the nation.
FORNEY, TEXAS — Bloomfield Frontline Forney Commercial Retail LLC has purchased a retail center located at 104 and 108 E. U.S. Highway 80 in Forney. Bloomfield is a syndication partnership set up by managing partners and promoters Steve Fithian with Sperry Van Ness/Visions Commercial and Thomas Wilson with Wilson Investment Properties. Forney Group Ltd. sold the retail center to Bloomfield for an undisclosed price. Sean Byrne with the Byrne Co. represented the seller, while Fithian represented the buyer. Sperry Van Ness/Visions Commercial will manage the retail center, which is located on 3.5 acres on the westbound U.S. Highway 80 Frontage Road just before Pinson Road (FM 740.) Forney is a suburb 19 miles east of downtown Dallas. Phase I of the retail center was built in 2006 and Phase II was built in 2008. Current tenants include 20/20 Sight, Time Out Sports Café, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Peak Physical Therapy, Angels Care Home Health, My Spa, H&R Block, Conaway Homes and Forney Family Dentistry. According to the Forney Economic Development Corp., Forney is the 15th-fastest growing town in the DFW area and has experienced 225 percent population growth since 2000.