Texas

HOUSTON — Houston-based Read King Commercial Real Estate has begun to develop a 40,443-square-foot Whole Foods Market. The store, which will be located at Louetta and Cutten roads in north Houston, will be the area's first Whole Foods store. The grocery chain will anchor the first phase of Vintage Marketplace, an 18-acre development within The Vintage, a 630-acre mixed-use development. Gensler Architects will design the new store, in addition to its 31,000 square feet of small shop space, and Arch-Con Corp. will serve as the project's general contractor. Read King was self-represented by Tony Patronella and Christie Amezquita in the land transaction. Read King worked directly with the seller, LCSE Limited Partnership. Amezquita also represented the landlord in the lease transaction with Whole Foods. Jeff Hayes and Tal McIver of New Quest Properties represented Whole Foods.

HOUSTON — New York City-based Cohen Real Estate has arranged the sale of Willowchase Shopping Center, a 273,274-square-foot center located at 12792 Willow Chase Drive in Houston. A 92,818-square-foot Fiesta Mart anchors the shopping center, which is 85 percent leased to tenants such as Jo-Ann Fabrics, Family Dollar and Dots. Helen Putterman and Vera Thomas of Cohen Real Estate procured the buyer, Houston-based Fidelis Capital Partners, in the transaction. Putterman and Thomas also represented the seller, Virginia Beach, Va.-based Wheeler Interests.

LAREDO, TEXAS — GBT Realty, a real estate developer based in Brentwood, Tenn., has completed the construction of the 10,000-square-foot McPherson Place, a retail development located on the corner of Bob Bullock Loop and McPherson Road in Laredo. The new property is fully leased to four retailers: James Avery, Orange Leaf, Starbucks Coffee Co. and AT&T. Including McPherson Place, GBT Realty's total number of developments in Texas is 77.