KATY, TEXAS — Texas-based grocer H-E-B has opened a 100,000-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center at 2102 Elrod Road in the western Houston suburb of Katy. The facility, which is expected to employ about 300 people on full- and part-time bases, is the seventh that the grocer has opened in Texas since 2018, with more planned to launch by the end of next year.
HOUSTON — Horizon Forest Products has signed a 30,600-square-foot industrial lease at 9284 Baythorne Drive in northwest Houston. Jon Michael, Ed Bane and J.D. Dieckman of Bridge Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America (TIAA) in the lease negotiations. George Montes of locally based brokerage firm Cypressbrook Co. represented the tenant.
By Ryan Kimura, senior vice president of strategic partnerships, Premier The changing landscape of work and the future of the office remains in flux, leading to a reduced demand for office space in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. This shift has rendered many office buildings underutilized and obsolete, prompting developers and investors to seek alternative uses for these structures. Simultaneously, urbanization continues to grow, fueling the demand for housing and a need for innovative multifamily solutions. Office-to-multifamily conversions provide an answer to both challenges, repurposing office spaces into much-needed residential units while allowing investors to capitalize on demand. This perfect storm of reduced office demand, increased housing needs and favorable regulatory conditions has driven the popularity of office-to-multifamily conversions, positioning them as a sustainable strategy for urban development. These conversions began to surge in popular metro areas during the height of the pandemic as uncertainty surrounded the return to the workplace. Fast forward three years later and office conversions are still booming — especially in the Dallas market. The region, which has witnessed some of the largest population increase in the country over the past five years, has also had a double-digit office vacancy rate in its downtown area …
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Dallas-based Bridgeview Multifamily will develop a 250-unit project on a 6.3-acre site at 800 W. Bardin Road in Arlington. The development, which has tentatively been dubbed Mercantile Lofts, will consist of a four-story building with three-story wings. Units will come in one- and two-bedroom floor plans and average 796 square feet, and amenities will include a pool, courtyard and a single-level parking garage. Construction is expected to begin next summer.
FRISCO, TEXAS —Pickle & Social and Fairway Social will open entertainment centers at Frisco Station, a mixed-use development on the northern outskirts of Dallas. Pickle & Social will offer both indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, as well as live entertainment, food and beverages and other games. Fairway Social will feature golf simulators that include 130 courses, as well live entertainment, food and drinks, cornhole, beach volleyball and ping-pong. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring, with the opening scheduled for spring 2025. Tim Henson of Venture Commercial Real Estate and Bryan Cornelius of RETAIL UNION represented Pickle & Social in the lease negotiations. The Frisco Station Partnership, which includes The Rudman Partnership, Hillwood and VanTrust Real Estate, is the developer of Frisco Station.
ADDISON, TEXAS — National Bankruptcy Services has right-sized its office footprint at 14841 N. Dallas Parkway in Addison, located just north of Dallas. The tenant, which has leased space at the building since 2014, has moved from a 75,000-square-foot space to a 45,000-square-foot space. Sarah Catherine Alford of Vista Holdings represented the undisclosed landlord in the negotiations. Nick Lee, Tom Lynn, Kent Smith and Grant Frerichs of NAI Robert Lynn represented the tenant.
DALLAS — Civil engineering firm Criado & Associates has signed a 16,000-square-foot office headquarters lease in North Dallas. The tenant will relocate from 4100 Spring Valley Road in Farmers Branch to Element Towers, a two-building, 672,942-square-foot complex, in early 2024. Tristan Stalker and John Beach of Newmark represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Russ Johnson and Kade Davis of JLL represented the landlord, Los Angeles-based Stanton Road Capital. The property is now 68 percent leased.
MAGNOLIA, TEXAS — Local brokerage firm SVN | J. Beard Real Estate — Greater Houston has negotiated the sale of a two-story, 5,000-square-foot office building in Magnolia, about 45 miles northwest of Houston. Diana Gaines of SVN | J. Beard represented the seller, Rangel Properties LLC, in the transaction. Jackson Cain, also with SVN | J. Beard, represented the buyer, an entity doing business as AKA 3 Real Estate Holdings LLC. The new ownership plans to use the building as an extension of an urgent care clinic.
WILMER, TEXAS — Trina Solar, a solar products manufacturer and solutions provider based in China, has announced plans to open a $200 million manufacturing facility in Wilmer, about 16 miles south of Dallas. Slated for completion in 2024, the plant will be located within Tradepoint 45 West, a 1.3 million-square-foot speculative development, and will be used for the production of photovoltaic (PV) Vertex modules as well as the sourcing of polysilicon, a key raw material in the production of solar PV products. The Wilmer plant will be Trina Solar’s first module factory in the Western hemisphere. “We have long had a vision to manufacture solar products in the United States, and we are proud of the jobs we are creating and the investment we are making in the Wilmer community,” says Steven Zhu, president of Trina Solar US. “Trina’s goal in building this facility is to begin to create an ecosystem of American manufacturing that can serve the burgeoning U.S. solar market.” “Trina will announce additional investments in American communities soon,” continues Zhu. “We are grateful to the State of Texas, Dallas County and the City of Wilmer for working with us on this exciting project.” At full capacity, the facility …
As the pandemic lockdowns hammered offices and retail properties, investors abandoned those assets and plowed cash into apartments and warehouses, both of which witnessed robust rent growth and appreciation as the economy reopened. But in many cases, apartment investors tapped ultra-cheap, variable-rate financing to overpay for multifamily properties, expecting rental rates to continue to climb and help the deals pencil financially. While in large part rents have grown — albeit not at the same double-digit level seen during 2021 and early 2022 — buyers often made the deals with too much optimism and failed to account for potential risks or often, at least, underappreciated them. Now, not only has the debt on those multifamily assets become considerably more expensive in about a year’s time, but labor, insurance, taxes and other operating costs also have increased. As a result, financial cracks are emerging in the multifamily market, says Jeff Salladin, a managing director with Dallas-based private debt fund Revere Capital. What’s more, because of the typical 12-month apartment lease term, landlords are unable to pass those higher expenses onto tenants in a timely fashion, declares Salladin, leader of the firm’s real estate debt team. Even if multifamily owners could increase rents, …