HOUSTON — Clay Pritchett and Troy Collins of Holt Lunsford Commercial have completed the sale of an 18,150-square-foot office/warehouse facility in Houston. The 2.34-acre property is located at 3625 Jensen Dr. Pritchett and Collins represented the seller, Rosemary Crawford. Jesse Cantu of Realty Associates represented the buyer, Scott Ferguson.
SAN ANTONIO — Phoenix Hospitality Group has announced plans to rebrand the Radisson San Antonio Market Square, a 250-room hotel located at 502 W. Durango Blvd., as a Doubletree by Hilton. Phoenix developed the hotel in 1992 and currently manages it. The company will complete an approximately $7 million renovation that will include new guest rooms, restaurant facilities and common areas. The renovated hotel will feature 20 oversized suites, 8,000 square feet of meeting space, a full-service restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a fitness center, concierge service, and an outdoor pool and hot tub. The hotel will remain open during construction and is slated for a spring 2010 completion.
SAN ANTONIO — Marcus & Millichap has completed the sale of Stepping Stone Apartments, an 80-unit multifamily property located in San Antonio. The community was built in 1985 and is situated at 7737 Skolout Dr. near the interchange of Highway 90 and Loop 410. Ryan Epstein and Moses Siller of Marcus & Millichap's San Antonio office represented the seller, a financial institution, and the buyer, locally based Terravista Corp. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
GARLAND, TEXAS — TIG Real Estate Services has brokered the acquisition of a 43,000-square-foot warehouse located at 2747 Oakland Ave. in Garland. The buyer was Kingsley Industrial and the seller was Northfield Properties. Michael Grant and Ryan Wolcott of TIG handled negotiations, with Chris Stout of Bradford representing the owner.
Overall, the Austin office market is facing many of the challenges that other major metropolitan areas are confronting. However, the Austin market has relatively strong employment fundamentals and continues to attract office-using employers and skilled employees. The office market should rebound earlier and stronger than the national bounceback once positive absorption returns, with the South, Southeast and CBD submarkets leading the way. Austin currently boasts the strongest employment market of any major metropolitan area in the country, though significant weakening in the office sector is projected due to overbuilding. The amount of vacant space increased by more than 1 million square feet in 2008, an addition of 14 percent to existing inventory. These additions shifted the leverage in lease negotiations to tenants, resulting in lower rents and elevated concessions; this was particularly true in the Northwest and Round Rock/Georgetown/Cedar Park submarkets, which experienced the greatest increases in inventory. As a result, asking rents are forecast to fall to $24.66 per square foot, and effective rents are projected to end 2009 at $20.72 per square foot, annual declines of 6.2 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. Office investment sales have slowed as financing constraints hamper the market. The median sales price, however, …
LUBBOCK, TEXAS — The Overton Hotel and Conference Center, a 303-room hotel located in Lubbock, has opened. The $66 million project was developed as a public/private partnership between the City of Lubbock, owner/operator 1859 Historic Hotels Ltd. and developer Garfield Traub Development. It totals 15 stories and contains more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space, including an 11,250-square-foot ballroom. Amenities include a business center, a fitness center, a restaurant, a bar and an outdoor pool. The second floor of the hotel also contains a classroom for the Restaurant/Hotel & Institutional Management program at nearby Texas Tech University. The general contractors for the project were Turner Construction Co. and Lee Lewis Contractors. The project architect was DLR Group.
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.