FORT BEND COUNTY — A partnership was announced between the University of Houston System and Fort Worth-based video game developer and publisher TimeGate. The agreement includes equipment, facility hosting, training and mentoring for student interns. The university will purchase the motion capture equipment and TimeGate will provide space and commercial talent at its Sugar Land headquarters. This will give students the opportunity to learn real-world experience while still in school.
Texas
AUSTIN — Crimson Real Estate Fund, L.P., and its co-investment partner, USAA Real Estate Co., have acquired the Aspen Lake office building located in northwest Austin from Wells Fargo Bank. Aspen Lake is a four-story, 205,000-square-foot Class A office building located near the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 45. Leasing services will be provided by AQUILA Commercial, LLC, under the direction of Crimson Services, LLC, an affiliate of Crimson Real Estate Advisors, L.P. Crimson Services will also provide property management services.
HOUSTON — Sundance Cinemas, The Cordish Companies and the City of Houston have announced that a lease has been signed for the former Angelika center space at Bayou Place in the theatre district of downtown Houston. Sundance expects extensive refurbishment work to begin immediately on the eight-screen complex with a target opening date set for November. Sundance Cinemas Houston will offer specialized film programming culled from film festivals and the best in general release. The venue will offer drinking and dining, all reserved seating, digital stereo sound and presentation, filmmaker screenings and exclusive events. Sundance Cinemas Houston will be the third of its kind, joining Sundance Cinemas in San Francisco and Madison, Wisc.
WACO — Caterpillar Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has opened a precision manufacturing center for hydrochemical work tool production at its Waco campus. The new facility, which spans 75,000 square feet, began operations earlier this year and will employ approximately 60 people when fully staffed and at full capacity. The facility is the fourth new Caterpillar location to open in Waco since 2005.
FORT WORTH — Cinemark Holdings, Inc., a motion picture exhibitor, has plans to construct a 14-screen, all-digital movie theater that will feature its Cinemark NextGen design concept in Presidio Junction, located eight miles north of downtown Fort Worth. Presidio Junction is a 300-acre master-planned, mixed-use development by LNR Property LLC located at the intersections of Interstate 35 West, SH 287 and North Tarrant Parkway. Cinemark Holdings purchased 10 acres within the property to build the Cinemark NextGen theater, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2012 summer movie season. All of the stadium-seated auditoriums will offer a state-of-the-art viewing environment with wall-to-wall screens, complete digital projection and digital surround sound. Marc Marrocco, Brian Glaser and Herb Weitzman of The Weitzman Group and Jay Jostrand of Graco negotiated the transaction between Cinemark Holdings and LNR Property.
DALLAS — North Dallas High School and Sam Houston Elementary School, both in the Dallas Independent School District, will undergo renovation projects. North Dallas High School will replace an existing annex building with a new single-story addition that will house science classrooms. The project also involves replacement and upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems, updating existing restrooms and replacement of pneumatic controls on the second and third floors with direct digital controls (DDCs). Meanwhile, Sam Houston Elementary School will replace and upgrade lighting, mechanical and electrical systems, update existing restrooms and replace pneumatic controls with DDCs. Warrior Group, a Dallas-based general contractor, will provide construction management services for both schools. Construction is scheduled to begin in April, with a completion date set for April 2012.
HOUSTON — Jeffrey Fript of Marcus & Millichap's Houston office, along with Paul Davis, Andrew Daitch and Seth Barnett of the firm's Detroit office, has facilitated the sale of the 478-unit Crestmont Apartment Portfolio in Houston on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. The buyer, a Miami-based private investor, was secured by Marcus & Millichap's Gary Witten. Located at 5638 Selinsky Rd., the property will undergo renovations and upgrades to the existing units.
SILSBEE — Stan Johnson Co. has completed the sale of a 14,550-square-foot, free-standing Walgreens at 496 Hwy. 96 South in Silsbee, located north of Beaumont. Brandon Duff and Brad Feller of Stan Johnson Co. represented the seller, a Houston-based developer, while Stan Johnson Co.'s Jim Gibson represented the buyer, an individual investor also based in Houston, in the transaction. The free-standing Walgreens is situated on 1.71 acres.
CARROLLTON — Now Specialties Inc., an exterior wall system designer, fabricator and installer, has expanded its corporate headquarters, production and warehouse space at Country Club Place by signing a 45,178-square-foot lease to become the largest tenant in the three-building property. Now Specialties occupies the entire 25,000-square-foot Building 3 and 20,178 square feet of Building 2 at 2122 Country Club Pl. Brian Pafford of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services negotiated on behalf of the landlord, Acquiport DFW.
HOUSTON — Val-Fit Inc. has leased a 170,017-square-foot warehouse space at 9051 Spikewood Dr. in Railwood Industrial Park in Houston. The landlord, Weingarten Realty Investors, was represented in-house by Mary Jo Giammalva, while Val-Fit was represented by John Ferruzzo, Chris Kugle and Dustin Gilloz of NAI Houston.