HOUSTON — Clinton Investments has broken ground for a new Holiday Inn, located in Houston’s Westway Park mixed-use development. The five-story hotel will contain 122 rooms. It is the second hotel in the state to be built to Holiday Inn’s new design concept, a contemporary design that caters to the Baby Boomer demographic. The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant, a business center, a fitness center, meeting facilities, a pool and an activity area. The hotel is situated adjacent to Carolyn Wolff Park, a 3-acre urban arboretum. Construction of the hotel is scheduled for a spring 2010 completion. Westway Park is a 150-acre development located at the intersection of Sam Houston Tollway and Clay Road. It is owned by Wolff Companies.
HOUSTON — Rice University has received $11.1 million in federal stimulus funding for the Brockman Hall of Physics, a new research facility that is currently under construction at the school’s Houston campus. The building will total 110,000 square feet, and it will provide space for research and education in fundamental and applied physics. Faculty from the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering will occupy the facility, which is slated for a spring 2011 completion and will be applying for LEED-Silver certification. The funding was awarded by the National Institute of Standards & Technology. Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake Associates has serving as project architect, with Gilbane Building Co. providing general contracting services.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — The J. Beard Real Estate Company has brokered the lease of the former Crossroads Baptist Church, a 40,170-square-foot church complex located at 6565 Research Forest Dr. in The Woodlands. The lessee, Celebration Church, has re-opened the church and held its dedication ceremony earlier this month. Its lease carries a purchase option for the complex. Karyn Stephens of J. Beard represented the lessor, Crossroads Baptist Church.
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Corpus Christi-based NAI Cravey Real Estate Services has brokered the sale of a 27,000-square-foot outparcel to Jack In The Box. The site is located at 4737 Saratoga Blvd. in Corpus Christi; it is shadow-anchored by a former H-E-B Grocery store that has been recently leased to a charter school. Construction for the restaurant has commenced and completion is expected later this year. NAI’s Lynann Pinkham and Matthew Cravey represented the seller, Saratoga Village Partners, in the land transaction
PEARLAND, LEAGUE CITY AND HOUSTON, TEXAS — The San Francisco office of NAI BT Commercial has completed the sales of three ground leases in the Houston metropolitan area. In the first transaction, a private investor purchased a 2.15-acre ground lease located at 11019 Shadow Creek Pkwy. in Pearland and a 1.84-acre ground lease located at 3140 Gulf Freeway South in League City. The former site contains a Cracker Barrell restaurant and the latter site contains a McDonald’s. The properties traded for a total of approximately $5.94 million. NAI’s Bob Sanner and Rick Sanner represented the same buyer in both transactions, as well as the seller in the first deal. Additionally, NAI’s Andy Bogardus and Chris Sheldon represented both parties in the sale of a 1.5-acre ground lease located in Houston. The property, which traded for $3.5 million, is currently leased to Wachovia. The parties in both transactions were undisclosed.
WATAUGA, TEXAS — Fort Worth, Texas-based NAI Huff Partners has arranged the sale of a 12,513-square-foot industrial building, located in Watauga. The property, which is situated on approximately 3 acres at 6301 Whitley Rd., was formerly used as a distribution center for Mrs. Baird’s. Jeff Givens and Amy Baker of NAI represented the seller, Clay Roarke. The property was purchased by Fort Worth Tower LLC for an undisclosed amount.
WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS — Construction is complete for the $6.2 million renovation of Fowler Hall, located on the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. The 23,000-square-foot renovated building houses academic space for the McCoy School of Engineering. Construction included the upgrade of several laboratory spaces; the construction of classrooms, offices and collaborations areas; and new study pods that overhang into the lab space. The exterior of the building now features a translucent glass box that showcases the building’s three major labs and the design studio while providing ample daylight to the building’s interior. Finally, a new landscape plan was implemented that includes the use of indigenous plants, custom fabricated outdoor seating and new walking surfaces. The project architect was Dallas-based SHW Group.
HOUSTON — Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics has reached an agreement with Kansas City Southern Railway Co. (KCS) to construct a new finished vehicle distribution center for Nissan in Houston. The facility will be situated adjacent to CenterPoint Intermodal Center – Houston Metro, an 800-acre intermodal and logistical park owned by a joint venture between CenterPoint Properties and KCS. The new facility is located on the new Victoria-to-Rosenberg KCS main line, providing direct access to Nissan’s manufacturing facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico, as well as the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas. The distribution center will serve customers in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The construction timetable for the project has not been released.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio-based K Partners Hospitality Group has held the grand opening for the new Courtyard by Marriott Sea World/Westover Hills, located in San Antonio. The 179-room hotel is situated within the 1,270-acre, master-planned Westover Hills development. It is an official Sea World-approved hotel, which offers vacation packages and shuttle services for the nearby San Antonio Sea World. Hotel amenities include a restaurant, complimentary high-speed Internet access, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, an indoor/outdoor swimming pool with a swim-up bar and a whirlpool, a fitness center, a business center and a lobby lounge with an outdoor veranda.
HOUSTON — NAI Houston has brokered the sale of a 25,000-square-foot industrial building, located at 2700 Aldine Bender Rd. in Houston. The newly constructed property is situated within InterBelt North Business Center. John Ferruzzo and Travis Land of NAI Houston represented the seller, StoneBridge T1 LP. Trey Martin and Griff Bandy, also of NAI Houston, represented the buyer, PSREH LTD. The buyer has leased the building to Petroleum Solutions for the company’s Houston operations.