DALLAS — Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. has retained NRC Realty & Capital Advisors to sell 139 gas stations/convenience stores across the U.S. The stores are located in Texas (83), Florida (31), Ohio (11), Pennsylvania (eight), Utah (five) and Wisconsin (one). Of the Texas stores, 43 are located in Dallas/Fort Worth, 10 in San Antonio, 10 are near Austin and remainder are located throughout east Texas. The store's lot sizes range from 10,000 square feet to 75,000 square feet and the store sizes range from kiosks to 6,700 square feet. All sites are being sold without 7-Eleven branding.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Stream Realty has arranged a 170,000-square-foot lease expansion and extension with Texas Capital Bank at 2350 Lakeside in Richardson. Tommy Nelson and Jeff Schweitzer of Stream Realty represented the landlord, Lakeside Tower, in the transaction. Terry Quinn of Cresa Dallas represented Texas Capital Bank.
HOUSTON — Transwestern's Houston office has been awarded the office leasing assignment for a new 125,000-square-foot, Class A office building slated to begin construction in Houston. The office building will be part of LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch, a 34-acre Main Street-style town center development located in the master-planned community of Cinco Ranch. The mixed-use center is fully leased to more than 50 retailers and restaurants and includes 90,000 square feet of office space. Houston-based Vista Cos. and Denver-based Amstar formed a partnership to develop and manage the mixed-use development. The new office building is part of Phase II of development, which will include the addition of 130,000 square feet of retail space and a 300-unit luxury residential project. Phase II will also include the construction of an outdoor event center called Central Green, which is being developed in partnership with the Willow Fork Drainage District.
DALLAS — Cassin & Cassin LLP, a Manhattan-based law firm, has leased 3,060 square feet of office space at the Rolex building, a seven-story, 155,550-square-foot office building in Uptown Dallas. The building, built in 1984, is credited as the first office building in Uptown Dallas. The landlord, Harwood International, was self-represented by Jihane Boury. Phil Puckett of CBRE represented the tenant, along with Joseph Cassin and Ron Uretta of Cassin & Cassin. With the new lease, the Rolex building is 86 percent occupied.
COLLINS COUNTY, TEXAS — Huffines Communities, a Dallas-based neighborhood and master-planned community developer, has purchased 593 acres of land in Collins County for a master-planned community called Parker Lakeside. The tract of land features four miles of frontage along the west side of Lake Lavon. Huffines purchased the land from the Hanover Group. The new site will offer approximately 1,400 lots for homes ranging from $260,000 to $1 million. Huffines will soon begin building streets, utilities, a club house with pools, trails and a grand monument entrance. The developer will also sell builders tracts of land ranging from 50 to 100 acres, as opposed to selling fully constructed home lots. The community will eventually house an elementary school, tennis courts, a fitness center, parks, hike/bike trails and commercial components. Road construction is slated to begin in 2014.
TYLER, TEXAS — Martin Roberts Design, a Stamford, Conn.-based retail design company, has completed the flagship store for Swann's Furniture & Design in Tyler. The $4.4 million store is located at 7328 Old Jacksonville Highway. In addition to Martin Roberts design, the project team includes general contractor Abby Developments and structural engineer Mike Marler of P.E./Engineering & Safety Consultants. Swann's Furniture & Design has been in business for 117 years and is now under its fifth generation of ownership.
HOUSTON — Laurus Corp., a private real estate investor and developer, has acquired the Gateway I and II office buildings in Houston. The two Class A buildings total 270,000 square feet and are located at 15333 John F. Kennedy Drive. The six-story and eight-story office buildings feature a courtyard, vaulted ceilings and marble floors in the lobby, covered driveway, full service cafe and a five-story parking structure. Laurus will invest capital for upgrades and renovations to the lobby, corridors and bathroom facilities.
DALLAS — Goodson Acura has purchased a 12,000-square-foot office building, located at 2710 Oak Lawn Ave. in Dallas, for its corporate offices. Eliza Solender of Solender/Hall represented the seller, Cancer Support Community, in the transaction. Russell Cosby and Doug Carignan of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Goodson Acura.
Austin has quickly become one of the hottest office investment markets in the country. In fact, many local market players say they’ve never seen this market more active, and for good reason. For Austin, it’s all about the strong combination of both outsized job growth and limited new development activity. On the jobs front, Austin gained 150,000 new residents over the past two years, according to the Census Bureau. In terms of construction starts, only three buildings were delivered to the market in the fourth quarter, and only 171,468 square feet of space was still under construction. These factors contributed to the Austin office market ending the fourth quarter of 2012 with a vacancy rate of 10.1 percent, down from 11.3 percent in the third quarter, with net absorption totaling positive 824,646 square feet in the fourth quarter. This year will see continued improvement in occupancy growth in Austin, though property performance will vary by submarket. For example, in the Round Rock/Georgetown/Cedar Park area, where a substantial amount of space was delivered during the recession, vacancy will tighten but will remain above 30 percent. As a result, rents in the area will continue to languish nearly 20 percent below the …
GARLAND, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 336,499-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility for $10.7 million in Garland. The property is net-leased to Apex Tool Group and is located at 3000 W. Kingsley Road. John Glass of Marcus & Millichap's San Francisco office, along with James Bell of the firm's Houston office, represented the seller in the transaction. Glass and Scott Pertel, also of Marcus & Millichap's San Francisco office, represented the buyer. The facility is expected to be upgraded with a new roof this year.