HOUSTON — Moody Rambin has arranged the lease of 5,718 square feet of office space in Houston for Vericlaim Inc., a loss-adjusting and claims management company. The tenant will occupy a portion of the 2500 Wilcrest building, located at 2500 Wilcrest Drive on the city’s west side, in proximity to the Sam Houston Tollway. Griffin Jaggard and Kurt Kistler of Moody Rambin represented the property owner, IC Wilcrest LP, in the negotiations. David Husid of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Vericlaim.
Texas
Looking back five years ago to the outset of 2009, new construction was the hot topic in the San Antonio office market. In 2008, 12 new office buildings were completed, adding approximately 1.5 million square feet to the market. That equated to a 6 percent increase in existing office inventory, with the new product concentrated in the key Northwest and North Central office submarkets. Of course, new development slowed considerably as the recession set in and wore on. Fast-forward to 2013, and as of press time the San Antonio office market only added 166,630 square feet of new product. The good news, though, is that San Antonio metro employment suffered much shorter and shallower losses than other metro areas as a result of the Great Recession. What’s more, the recovery from these losses has been sharp, with nearly 58,000 jobs added since local employment hit its lowest point in 2009, or approximately three new jobs for every one lost in the local downturn. One-third of these new jobs (or about 19,000) were created in office-using sectors such as finance, insurance and engineering. As a result, the office market is recovering, led by Class A space. The rapid decline in Class …
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS — CBRE has brokered the sale of Garden Park Shopping Center, a 170,739-square-foot neighborhood center in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville. The property, anchored by World Gym and Thrift City, was 83 percent occupied at the time of the sale and has seen nine new tenants sign leases in the past 12 months. Retailers include Precision Sports Nutrition, Edward Jones, The UPS Store and Lewisville Soccer. Jennifer Pierson and Beth Pierson of CBRE represented the seller, a special servicer, in the transaction. CIG Retail Properties purchased the asset, which is located at 1565 W. Main St.
TULSA, OKLA. — The firm of Bellomy & Co. has brokered the sale of Alcatraz Storage and Alcatraz Storage North, two self storage properties totaling 132,570 square feet in Tulsa. The Class A assets, which together comprise 946 rentable units, offer climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled options, as well as RV, boat and automobile storage space. Alcatraz Storage is located at 6435 S. Peoria Ave., while Alcatraz Storage North is located at 12565 E. 21st St. John Owens of Bellomy & Co. represented the buyer, a West Texas-based private investor.
HOUSTON — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $1.6 million sale of an 11,350-square-foot net-leased property occupied by Commercial Alliance Insurance Co. in Houston. The asset is located at 415 Lockhaven Drive. Derek Hargrove of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. Justin Miller, also of Marcus & Millichap, secured and represented the buyer, a private investor.
McALLEN, TEXAS — Venture Commercial has arranged a 15,521-square-foot lease in McAllen for Northern Tool + Equipment. The property, located at 505 W. Expressway 83 and adjacent to Sheplers Western Wear, is in proximity to the interchange with Expressway 281, as well as McAllen-Miller International Airport. Clay Mote of Venture represented the tenant in the negotiations, while the landlord represented itself.
DALLAS — HFF has arranged $73 million in permanent financing for 17Seventeen McKinney, a 369,014-square-foot office property in the Uptown submarket of Dallas. The loan will replace the original construction loan for the property, which was completed in 2010 and is located at the corner of Akard Street and McKinney Avenue. The LEED Gold-certified asset was 95 percent leased at the time of the loan closing, with tenants including Regions Bank, Huitt-Zollars, Red Bull North America, Clarion and American Airlines. 17Seventeen McKinney is connected to and shares amenities such as a fitness center with residential community Park Seventeen. Trey Morsbach and Jim Curtin of HFF arranged the seven-year, fixed-rate loan through Regions Bank on behalf of Granite Properties.
DALLAS — ElmTree Net Lease Fund II has acquired two industrial buildings in Dallas for a combined purchase price of $26.5 million. The first asset is a 150,975-square-foot facility located at 2717 S. Main St. within the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and leased by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. Five years remain on the tenant’s original 10-year lease, and under terms of the acquisition, Sikorsky may expand the facility by 150,000 square feet. The second asset is a 72,056-square-foot building, also within the airport, occupied by Hitachi High Technologies America. Nine years remain on the tenant’s original 10-year lease. The property, used for the manufacturing and development of microchips, features clean rooms, a product demonstration room and a designated Foreign Trade Zone area in the warehouse portion of the building. ElmTree Net Lease Fund II is a private equity fund sponsored by ElmTree Funds LLC.
HOUSTON — The project team of Simpson Housing LLLP, Novare Group, Batson-Cook Development Co. and Peter Dienna will break ground in February on SkyHouse River Oaks, a 352-unit high-rise multifamily community in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston. The 25-story property will offer one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as amenities such as two swimming pools, a club room, fitness center and outdoor kitchen. Completion for the building, designed for Energy Star certification, is slated for the first quarter of 2015. Simpson Housing, Novare and Batson-Cook are partnering in development; Simpson Housing is serving as owner and operator; Batson-Cook is acting as general contractor; and Peter Dienna is working as project manager. JP Morgan is providing construction financing, and Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart is serving as architect.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 123-room Hampton Inn in Austin. Constructed in 1997 and renovated in 2012, the six-story hotel is located at 4141 Governors Row, in proximity to the interchange of State Highway 71 and Interstate 35. Amenities include a 430-square-foot meeting room, business center and outdoor swimming pool. Allan Miller and Chris Gomes of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a joint venture between a California family trust and a Texas-based private investor, in the transaction. David Greenberg, also of Marcus & Millichap, represented the buyer, Moody National REIT I Inc.