ABILENE — First Financial Bank, N.A., Abilene, a subsidiary of Abilene-based First Financial Bankshares, will break ground on its new 5,530-square-foot branch today at 2 p.m. CT., located at 1801 Antilley Rd. in Abilene. The bank will feature five drive-thru lanes and a deposit-taking ATM and is slated to open in mid-2012.
Texas
STAFFORD — Sugar Land-based ICO Commercial has brokered the sale of the 84,828-square-foot Park Murphy Condominiums, an 11-building industrial portfolio, located at 12802-12834 Murphy Rd. in Stafford. Mike Gornek of ICO Commercial represented the seller, the original developer Park Murphy LLC, in the transaction.
CHILDRESS — Attune RTD has preliminarily agreed to purchase a 30,000-square-foot office building, located in Childress, to serve as its new corporate headquarters. The seller, PAMCO, has preliminarily accepted the agreement.
EL CAMPO — Houston-based Central Management has been retained to manage the 18,195-square-foot West Loop Village Marketplace, a shopping center located at Highway 71 and West Loop FM 2765 in El Campo. Robert Barton of Central Management has been named the property manager and Trent Vack and Gary Triplett, also of Central Management, are leasing the property.
MCKINNEY — Segars McKinney has purchased a 70,200-square-foot industrial property, located at 1720 Bray Central in McKinney, from JPMorgan Chase. Holmes Davis of Binswanger's Dallas office represented the buyer in the transaction. Eric Deuillet and Bob Kent of Structure Commercial represented the seller.
NEW BRAUNFELS — Marcus & Millichap has secured $10.32 million in refinancing with cash-out for a 164-unit multifamily property in New Braunfels. Jake Roberts and Anita Paryani of Marcus & Millichap's West Los Angeles office arranged the 7-year loan with a 30-year amortization schedule.
FLOWER MOUND — CIG Retail Properties has acquired 31,939 square feet of retail space from Town View Plaza Ltd., located at 1900 Long Prairie Rd. in Flower Mound. Jennifer Pierson and Beth Pierson of CBRE's Dallas office represented the seller in the transaction.
ARLINGTON — Lee & Associates has arranged a 50,888-square-foot flex lease, located at 2300 E. Randol Mill Rd. in Arlington. Mark Graybill and Donnie Rohde of Lee & Associates Dallas/Fort Worth office represented the landlord, RREEF Asset Management, in the lease transaction. Ken Boyd with Dallas-based Jackson & Cooksey represented the tenant, Petmate.
BIG SPRING — Houston-based Central Management has been retained as property manager for the 27,074-square-foot Big Spring Marketplace, a shopping center located at 111 E. Marcy Dr. in Big Spring. Jan Echard of Central Management's Dallas office will serve as the property manager.
As the national market recession began in 2008, and started to settle in throughout the city of Houston around mid-year 2009, businesses focused on the implementation of efficiency, accomplishing more with fewer resources applied to the daily routine. In most business models, the most expensive resources are the current staff, followed closely by office space. In that most office leases are illiquid, downsizing of non-essential personnel is logically the most expedient way to an immediate impact on the bottom line during an economic downturn. However, this also results in an immediate surplus of office space per person or phantom vacancy; a pattern logically should trend downward during a recessionary cycle in the economy. According to CoStar data from the 3rd quarter 2011 webinar, the average square footage per worker has increased by almost 10% since 2008, and leveling off after 2009 without significant decrease. Certainly, the trend is quite the opposite of what we would expect today, arguably even in a stable economy as the trend is increasingly toward efficiency. However, such excess may not only be to the lack of the ability to dispose of such vacancy, but the intentional positioning where employers are seeking to recruit quality personnel …