HOUSTON — First Industrial Realty Trust has arranged two long-term leases totaling 273,018 square feet at its 351,672-square-foot First Northwest Commerce Center development in Houston. The leases bring the facility to 78 percent leased. A leading global supplier to the energy industry will use 194,364 square feet of the facility for distribution and assemblage, and an international technology and manufacturing company will occupy a 78,654 square-foot space that will serve as a design, production and distribution center. Both leases will commence Sept. 1, 2015. Located in the Northwest submarket of Houston at 4800 W. Greens Road, First Northwest Commerce Center features 32-foot clear heights, a sprinkler system, truck courts and excess trailer storage, as well as access to major transportation systems via Beltway 8. Royal Pratt and Chad Parrish lead First Industrial’s development and leasing efforts for First Northwest Commerce Center.
DALLAS — Brennan Investment Group LLC has purchased and leased back to Arbor Metals an industrial property located at 811 Regal Row in Dallas. Arbor is an international trader, processor and stocking metal service center for stainless steel and aluminum strip and coil. The building serves as the company’s headquarters and sole manufacturing facility. This acquisition increases Brennan’s Southwest regional portfolio to 21 buildings.
DALLAS — InvenTrust Properties Corp. has named Alan Grayson as its director of leasing in the company’s Dallas office. Grayson oversees all retail leasing activities and assists in market expansion efforts for the North Texas and Western regions of the company’s national portfolio. Prior to joining InvenTrust Properties, Grayson spent 10 years at Dallas-based MG Herring Group, most recently as vice president of leasing. Grayson earned his BBA from the University of North Texas and holds the Certified Leasing Specialist (CLS) designation from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). InvenTrust Properties currently owns and manages 34 centers in North Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, California, Nevada and Washington, and is seeking acquisitions in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Denver and Phoenix.
HOUSTON — HFF has arranged the sale of 400 North Belt, a 230,872-square-foot, Class A office project in Houston’s Greenspoint office submarket. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the unnamed seller. Hartman 400 North Belt, a subsidiary of Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX Inc., purchased the asset for an undisclosed amount. 400 North Belt is located at the southeast corner of the Sam Houston Parkway/Beltway 8 at Imperial Valley Drive between the Houston central business district and The Woodlands. The property is close to George Bush Intercontinental Airport, as well as I-45, Hardy Toll Road and I-69. Originally built in 1982, the 12-story property has undergone more than $2 million in capital upgrades during the last 10 years. Building amenities include a deli, bank facility with a drive-thru motor bank and a fitness center planned to open this year. 400 North Belt was 64 percent leased at the time of sale. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing director Dan Miller and director Trent Agnew. Dave Wheeler, Julian Kwok and Russell Turman of HFF represented the buyer.
HOUSTON — Cousins Properties Inc. has signed Transocean Ltd. to a lease renewal for 255,413 square feet at Greenway Plaza in Houston. Transocean, the fourth largest customer in Cousins’ Houston portfolio, currently occupies 4 Greenway Plaza in its entirety. The transaction renews 100 percent of Transocean’s current space at 4 Greenway Plaza and extends the company’s lease on the space through January 2023. Greenway Plaza is a 4.5 million-square-foot, Class A office complex located in the Greenway submarket of Houston. The property is 90 percent leased. Bob Boykin, Warren Savery, Bubba Harkins and Will Hightower represented Cousins internally in this transaction.
KATY AND SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sales of Center at Cinco Ranch, a 11,706-square-foot retail property located in Katy, and an 1,785-square-foot Starbucks in San Antonio. In the first transaction, James Bell of Marcus & Millichap’s Houston office represented the buyer, a partnership. Center at Cinco Ranch is located at 23100 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy. In the second transaction, Bell marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a developer. The Starbucks is located at 3718 Horizon Hill Blvd.
DALLAS — Brian Gramlich of BMC Capital’s Dallas office has arranged a $3.5 million acquisition loan for a 67-unit apartment complex located in Dallas. The loan featured a five-year term with a fixed 3.8 percent interest rate and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was arranged through one of BMC Capital’s correspondent agency relationships.
LANCASTER, TEXAS — NFI, supply chain solutions provider, will open a distribution center in in Lancaster in partnership with Rent-A-Center. The facility is the first of several distribution centers that will support Rent-A-Center operations across North America. Rent-A-Center offers furniture, electronics, appliances and computers through rental-purchase agreements at over 3,000 retail locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Dallas/Fort Worth has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years, and we have all the fundamentals in place to continue this growth. Since 2005, we have added more than 600,000 jobs to the region. That’s a whopping increase of 21 percent! The current outlook is for growth to continue at these levels. In fact, by 2030 population in our region is expected to hit 9 million, an increase of 2.1 million new residents. From a real estate perspective, these fundamentals will fuel demand across all property types for the foreseeable future. More importantly, DFW has evolved into one of the most balanced economies in the U.S. and has created the “perfect storm” for our continued, steady growth. In addition to our central location, key drivers include our diverse employment base, deep roots in technology, low cost of doing business, pro-growth philosophy and affordable housing. For a comparison to the rest of the country, office absorption in Dallas has paced ahead of most U.S. markets in the last few years. In the first quarter of 2015, Dallas made up almost 30 percent of the national net absorption among the 50 largest U.S. markets JLL tracks. While a large proportion of …
ODESSA, TEXAS — Cinergy Entertainment Group Inc. has purchased a property along State Highway 191, half a mile east of Faudree Road in the new Dorado Center in Odessa. Plans for the property include a 90,000-square-foot cinema entertainment complex. Lee Lewis Construction will break ground in the next few days. The theater, which will be called Cinergy Permian Basin featuring EPIC, will include 10 auditoriums, 18 lanes of bowling, a full-service bar, four billiard tables, a game floor with more than 110 games, redemption store, dining options and rock climbing walls.