HOUSTON — Grubb & Ellis has brokered the purchase of a 34,396-square-foot industrial building located at 2001 Cavalcade St. in Houston. Rob Stillwell of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller, 2001 Cavalcade Inc.; Beto Carrsco of Citiquest Properties represented the buyer, Reforma Properties. In addition, Bill Burge and Mark Lehman of Grubb & Ellis represented Williams Consolidated in the leasing of 22,672 square feet of industrial space at 4930 Cranswick Rd. in Houston. Joe MacDougall with MacDougall Co. represented the landlord, 4930 Cranswick, Ltd.
AUSTIN AND TEMPLE, TEXAS — Five Guys Burgers & Fries has signed leases to open two new restaurants in Texas. The first is a 2,851-square-foot restaurant located within The Arboretum in Austin, and the second is a 2,500-square-foot restaurant located within Bird Creek Crossing in Temple. Mike Minicucci and Robert O'Farrell of SRS Real Estate Partners represented Five Guys in lease negotiations. Five Guys currently has five locations in Central Texas. In the past year, SRS has helped the company sign leases for locations in San Antonio, Austin and Harker Heights, Texas.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Vertical construction has topped out for The Austonian, a 56-story residential tower located in downtown Austin. The 683-foot tower, which was designed by Ziegler Cooper Architects, is located at the intersection of Congress Avenue and Second Street. Upon completion in spring 2010, The Austonian will contain 178 condominiums and more than 40,000 square feet of amenity space. Benchmark Development is the developer of the project and Second Congress, Ltd. is the owner.
HOUSTON — Houston-based Midway Cos. has opened THE LOFTS CITYCENTRE. The 250-unit project is part of the $500 million CITYCENTRE mixed-use project located in downtown Houston. The residences are situated above retail and restaurant space. Amenities include concierge service, a fitness center, resident terraces and a recreation lounge.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS. — Henry S. Miller Brokerage (HSMB) has negotiated the sale of an 11,120-square-foot industrial building located in Grand Prairie. The building is situated on 1 acre at 401 E. Trinity Blvd. within a recently developed industrial park. Pete Richardson and Drew Richardson of HSMB represented the seller, PPG Real Estate Partners. Jim Leatherwood, also of HSMB, represented the buyer a Tarrant County-based company that plans to use the facility as its corporate headquarters.
There are several trends that are shaping the Dallas industrial market right now. The uncertainty of financial markets and lack of liquidity is certainly hampering the market. Limited access to capital is withholding business expansion. We are also working with motivated landlords that are helping make successful tenant representation transactions, whether it is a restructure or a new deal. Equity is sitting back and waiting for values to continue to fall. I’m seeing short-term commitments on renewals; tenants are reluctant to make large commitments. There is minimum activity in the market as tenants are just making do with what they have. There is growing space availability as more bankruptcies create more inventory — and also opportunities. For example, tenants like Home Interiors and Fitz & Floyd have left the market, creating more available space. There are many 30,000-square-foot to 80,000-square-foot clients in the market but not as many big deals. We have made some deals on space and land that had previously not been available. Tenants are looking for facilities with extra storage areas and ability to secure the truck court. Facilities that have access to DFW airport and 30-foot clear height or greater are a big plus in this …
DALLAS — Atlanta-based InterContinental Hotels Group is nearing completion for the new Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown. Located at 1015 Elm St., the project consists of the $14 million conversion of the former Hampton Inn Dallas – West End – Convention Center. As part of the project, all 300 rooms were renovated, more than 22,000 square feet of new meeting space was added, the TEN15 Elm restaurant was built and a new nightclub named THRIVE was added. Existing amenities at the hotel include a business center, a fitness center, and a ninth-floor, rooftop pool for the 23-story hotel. Completion is expected at the end of the month. The hotel is the fifth Crowne Plaza in the Dallas area.
PLANO, TEXAS — Cadence McShane Construction Co. has completed a renovation project at Hendrick Middle School in Plano. Construction included renovations to 55 classrooms, six science labs, the 480-seat cafeteria and kitchen, the library, the gymnasiums, band and choir rooms, locker rooms, and the weight room. The project architect was the Arlington, Texas, office of VLK Architects. Hendrick Middle School is a two-story, 170,739-square-foot educational facility located at 7400 Red River Dr.
DALLAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a Chase Bank Retail Center located at 8930 RL Thornton Freeway in Dallas. The 9,100-square-foot property is situated within a shopping center that also contains All Smiles Dental, Mora & Associates CPA and Pizza Patron. Philip Levy, Jason Vitorino and John Perry of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office represented the seller, a developer. The buyer is a private investor completing a 1031 exchange. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
Fort Worth, Texas —Lockheed Martin Corp. has signed on as the first tenant at Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks, a new office building on Fort Worth’s west side. The Bethesda, Md.-based Fortune 100 company will occupy 61,945 square feet of the three-story building, taking the entire west wing of the first floor and 28,500 square feet of the west wing’s top floor. Todd Burnette and Frank Ricca of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Lockheed Martin in the transaction. Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks, which spans a total of 187,928 square feet at 7000 Calmont Ave., is the first LEED pre-certified Gold, multi-tenant office building in the city. GVA Cawley is handling leasing and management for WDS Green Oaks LP, the building’s owner. Omniplan Architects of Dallas designed Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks, and Dallas-based Spring Valley Construction Co. was the contactor.