SAN ANTONIO — Construction has topped out for the Embassy Suites San Antonio Downtown – Riverwalk, a 285-suite hotel located at 125 E. Houston St. in San Antonio. The hotel will feature Luke, a brasserie restaurant operated by John Besh, as well as an environmentally friendly design and a cascading water element that will run from the lobby to the outdoor patio and into the San Antonio River. Completion is slated for August. Sam Friedman of Blanco Rio, Ltd. is the owner of the hotel, and Natchitoches, La.-based Dimension Development will be the operator. The general contractor is Zachry Construction. The new hotel marks the third Embassy Suites in San Antonio.
Texas
HOUSTON — Grubb & Ellis has brokered the sale of a 37,000-square-foot office building located at 8440 Westpark in Houston. Doug Nicholson and John Nicholson of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller, 8440 Westpark LLC. Stephen Schneidau of Cushman & Wakefield represented the buyer, KIPP Inc. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — The grand opening will be held tomorrow for the new Acuity Hospital of South Texas in San Antonio. The long-term acute care hospital moved from its original location at South Texas Medical Center to a new facility located downtown at 718 Lexington Ave. The new building rises three stories and totals 34,000 square feet. It contains 30 private rooms, a six-bed High Observation Unit, radiology and laboratory facilities and a clinical pharmacy. Austin, Texas-based AcuityHealthcare is the owner of the hospital. Houston-based Professional Construction Services served as the construction management firm for the project, and construction financing was provided by SNB Bank.
PFLUGERVILLE AND WILLIS, TEXAS — Ross Dress for Less will hold the grand opening for its newest location in the coming weeks. The apparel retailer will join the tenant roster at Stone Hill Town Center, a 196-acre, master-planned development in Pflugerville that is owned by NewQuest Properties. Other retailers opening at the center this year include Office Depot and 24 Hour Fitness. In addition to 1 million square feet of retail space, Stone Hill Town Center will contain 325 multifamily units, a hotel and professional office space. In addition, a new Kroger Marketplace has been announced for Sam Houston Town Center, a NewQuest retail development located in Willis. The 123,000-square-foot grocery store will anchor the retail center, which is located at the interchange of Interstate 45 and FM 1097. Sam Hill Town Center will also include 25,000 square feet of small-shop retail space and six pad sites. Groundbreaking for The Kroger Marketplace will occur in March, with the grand opening planned for 2011.
HOUSTON — The Houston office of Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) has brokered the sale of an 8.9-acre land parcel located in Houston's Heights neighborhood. The seller is a local townhome developer that previously planned to develop residences on the site. The buyer is Grace Bible Church. ARA's Tim Dosch and David Marshall represented the buyer. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
DALLAS — The Weitzman Group has arranged the sale of a 3,777-square-foot office building located at 4343 N. Central Expressway located in Dallas. The buyer is Laguarda-Low II LP, which consists of representatives of Laguarda Low Architects. The new property will be used to expand the offices of the architecture firm, which is headquartered next door. The seller is Lutz Office I LP. Greg McDonald and Eddie Liebman of The Weitzman Group handled negotiations.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare Corp. has renewed and expanded its lease at 1825 Westpark Drive in Grand Prairie. The medical equipment supplier will now occupy the entire 87,508-square-foot building for a 13-year term. The lease also includes interior upgrades to the tenant's existing office and warehouse space as well as its 43,754-square-foot expansion. Kevin Santaularia and Michael Spain of Dallas-based Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the tenant. Canon Shoults of Dallas-based Holt Lunsford Commercial represented the landlord, The Realty Associations Fund VIII LP.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — Philip Levy, Jason Vitorino and Tommy Tucker of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office have represented a private seller in the sale of a 4,921-square-foot Christian Brothers Automotive retail property to a private buyer. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. The property is located at 2804 N.E. Green Oaks Blvd. in Grand Prairie. Built in 2006, the building is NNN-leased for 15 years. Levy and Vitorino represented the buyer.
HOUSTON —Brook Furniture Rental has leased a 22,500-square-foot property in Houston from HPF Investments. The building is located at 535 W. 38th St. Chris Caudill and Joel Michael of NAI Houston represented Brook Furniture Rental. Steve Hazel of Insite Realty Partners represented the landlord.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Jean C. Farris, a veteran of the Dallas real estate market, has retired as director of leasing for the Hall Financial Group. She was celebrated by more than 200 industry associates as she made the announcement. During her career, she has received awards from the Dallas Business Journal and has been named a North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors Commercial Division All-Star.