BEAVERTON, ORE. — Intersect Power, an Oregon-based clean energy company, has received $837 million in financing for the construction and operation of three standalone battery energy storage facilities in Texas. The facilities, the specific locations of which were not disclosed, are expected to be operational by the end of the year. The financing includes portfolio-level construction debt, tax equity and term debt financing. Morgan Stanley provided tax equity, and funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners will be making construction debt and term debt investments. Deutsche Bank is partnering in the construction debt facility and providing the operational letters of credit to the projects.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Chicago-based Logistics Property Co. has broken ground on a two-building, 408,000-square-foot industrial project at 12821 Titanium St. in northeast Austin. The site is roughly one mile from State Highway 130 and 15 miles from the downtown area. The development will consist of a 175,000-square-foot rear-load building and a 233,000-square-foot cross-dock building. Construction is expected to last about one year. McFarland Architecture is designing the project, and FCL Builders is serving as the general contractor. Locally based brokerage firm AQUILA Commercial is marketing the property for lease.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Developer High Street Residential has completed Alder at The Grove, a 276-unit multifamily project located within The Grove master-planned community in Austin. The first phase, the 373-unit Korina at The Grove, was completed in March 2022. Alder at The Grove features studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans that range in size from 400 to 3,600 square feet. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, clubroom, resident lounge, coworking space and outdoor grilling and dining stations. JHP Architecture designed the project, with interiors by Britt Design Group. Andres Construction served as the general contractor. Rents start at roughly $1,225 per month for a studio apartment.
HOUSTON — Avison Young has arranged a 104,013-square-foot office headquarters lease in Houston. The tenant, Camden Property Trust, will relocate from Greenway Plaza to floors 25 through 29 at Williams Tower, a 1.4 million-square-foot building located at 2800 Post Oak Blvd. in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. Anthony Squillante and Dustin Devine of Avison Young represented the tenant, which plans to take occupancy next fall, in the lease negotiations. Warren Savery and Nina Seyyedin of CBRE represented the landlord, Atlanta-based Invesco Real Estate.
IRVING, TEXAS — Developer KDC, in partnership with the University of Dallas, has received approval from the Irving City Council to rezone a site located north of State Highway 114 at Braniff Drive to support the development of a data center. The project, the size and scope of which was not disclosed, is currently in the design phase and expected to be complete in early 2027. Corgan is leading the design of the project, with Telios and Kimley-Horn providing engineering services.
AUSTIN, TEXAS AND ORLANDO, FLA. — Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) has agreed to acquire Chuy’s Holdings (NASDAQ: CHUY) for $605 million in an all-cash transaction. The Tex-Mex restaurant chain — which owns and operates 101 full-service restaurants across 15 states — will join Darden’s existing restaurant portfolio, which includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, among others. Under terms of the merger agreement, Orlando-based Darden will acquire all outstanding shares of Chuy’s at $37.50 per share. The purchase price represents a 40 percent premium to the Austin-based company’s 60-day volume weighted price. Chuy’s board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement, which includes a 30-day “go-shop” period that will allow the company to solicit alternative proposals from interested parties. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2025, subject to a number of closing conditions, including approval by a majority of Chuy’s stockholders. Darden acquired Ruth’s Chris in summer 2023 for $715 million. The company’s portfolio of restaurant brands also includes Yard House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze. Darden’s stock price closed at $147.35 per share on Thursday, July 17, down from $163.31 one year ago. …
BROWNSVILLE AND AUSTIN, TEXAS — Elon Musk will move the headquarters of his rocket and spacecraft manufacturing company, SpaceX, from California to Texas. The billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla CEO made the announcement earlier this week in a post to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which Musk also owns and intends to relocate to Texas. According to CBS News, Musk said that SpaceX would move from the Los Angeles-area community of Hawthorne to its Starbase facility in Brownsville and that X would move from San Francisco to Austin. Musk cited multiple political policies in California as the impetus behind his decision, which follows the relocation of the headquarters of Tesla (NYSE: TSLA) from Silicon Valley to Austin a couple years ago. Timelines for the moves were not disclosed.
DALLAS — Developer IAC Properties has broken ground on an approximately 435,000-square-foot industrial project in South Dallas. IAC Beckleymeade will be a two-building speculative development that will be situated on a 28.2-acre site. The buildings will total 234,900 and 199,800 square feet and will include 81 dock doors and 5,500 square feet of office space. Azimuth Architecture designed the project, and Krusinski Construction Co. is serving as the general contractor. A tentative completion date was not disclosed.
CLUTE, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Vanderbilt Apartments, a 288-unit multifamily community located south of Houston in Clute. The property was built in 1978 and offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a pool, dog park, playground and outdoor grilling and dining stations. Nico Bianchi and Kent Myers of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, an entity doing business as Gupta Vanderbilt Place LLC, in the transaction. The duo also procured the buyer, a locally based limited liability company.
DALLAS — Locally based developer Mintwood Real Estate has begun leasing Oakhouse, a 219-unit mixed-income residential project in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. Mintwood developed the project in partnership with Mirasol Capital and New York City-based MSquared. Approximately half the units are reserved for households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, dog park, children’s play area and a resident lounge. WDG Associates designed the project, and Rogers O’Brien served as the general contractor. Independent Financial provided construction financing.