MESQUITE, TEXAS — The grand opening will be held this month for Zaina World Food Market, a Mediterranean grocery store located in Mesquite. The store will occupy 12,000 square feet within Independence Plaza, a 179,000-square-foot shopping center located at the corner of Town East Boulevard and Galloway Avenue. The grocery store will also contain Amir’s Café & Bakery, a restaurant serving Middle Eastern food and baked goods. Independence Plaza is controlled by Houston-based Weingarten Realty Advisors.
Texas
HOUSTON — The Houston office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) has brokered the sale of the Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Fund Chase Bank Portfolio, a five-building, Class B office portfolio located in Houston. The portfolio totals 157,672 square feet and includes: 2900 Woodridge Drive, 6200 Highway 6 South, 9525 Bissonnet Street, 11806 Wilcrest Drive and 13103 FM 1960. JPMorgan Chase Bank is the anchor tenant of the portfolio, occupying 43 percent of the portfolio through 2021. HFF’s Dan Miller and Trent Agnew negotiated the transaction. The parties involved were not disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — Construction firm Skanska USA Building has been selected to build Tri-Service Research Laboratory, a $61.1 million military medical training facility located at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The project will include the construction of approximately 54,000 square feet of laboratory space. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in August, with completion scheduled for March 2011.
HOUSTON — Grubb & Ellis has arranged an approximately 144,620-square-foot industrial lease at Portwall Distribution Center in Houston. Cadeco Industries will occupy space in two buildings located at 530-542 Portwall St. the company will occupy 81,800 square feet in one building and 62,820 square feet in the other. Doug Nicholson and John Nicholson of Grubb & Ellis’ Houston office represented Cadeco Industries. The landlord, locally based Warehouse Associates, provided in-house representation. Terms of the lease were not released.
DALLAS — Willow Pond Apartment Homes, a 387-unit multifamily community located in Dallas, has been sold. The rental property is situated on 13 acres at the corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams Road. It was acquired by an investment group sponsored by Clark Willingham of Dallas. The new owner plans to launch a capital improvements program and continue to operate the community as affordable housing. Tim Kay of Kay Commercial represented the buyer. The undisclosed seller was represented by William Coolidge of Coolidge & Associates. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
AUSTIN — The Austin office of Transwestern has been selected to handle leasing and management of two Austin office portfolios controlled by UNUM and DivcoWest Real Estate Investments. The UNUM portfolio comprises five buildings totaling 436,457 square feet. Notable properties include Northview Business Center, a 254,972-square-foot office building located in the city’s Northwest submarket, and Summit Park A and B, two flex buildings also located in the Northwest submarket that total 96,950 square feet. Notable tenants include AT&T, Verizon, Texas Workforce Commission and CustomerLinx Corp. The DivcoWest portfolio primarily comprises Parmer Business Park, a six-building office park in northwest Austin that totals 266,737 square feet. The other property in the portfolio is Bergstrom Tech Center 312, a 203,884-square-foot office building located in the city’s Southeast submarket. Sun MicroSystems occupies all of Parmer Business Park; Bergstrom Tech Center 312 is vacant.
STAFFORD, TEXAS — The Houston office of NorthMarq Capital has arranged first-mortgage financing for Shadowbrooke Apartments, a 240-unit multifamily community located in Stafford. The Class A property is currently 95 percent occupied. NorthMarq’s Roger Trapnell and Warren Hitchcock originated the loan, which carries a 7-year term with a 30-year amortization schedule. The lender was Freddie Mac. The principal and interest rate of the loan were not released.
DALLAS — Newport Beach, Calif.-based KBS Realty Advisors has acquired Providence Towers, a 12-story, approximately 500,000-square-foot office tower located at 5001 Spring Valley Rd. in Dallas. Amenities at the Class A property include a fitness center, two conference rooms, an on-site restaurant and a bank branch. The project is approximately 90 percent occupied by a tenant mix that includes DeGolyer & MacNaughton, Time Warner, Morgan Stanley, Hilton Hotels and Henry S. Miller. The property is in the process of applying for LEED certification. The seller was CB Richard Ellis Investors. The transaction was negotiated by CB Richard Ellis. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
HOUSTON — Parsippany, N.J.-based B&G Foods has renewed its lease for 151,966 square feet of warehouse space for an additional 5-year term. The space is located at Suite 140 of 7150 Business Park Dr. in Houston. Edward Bane of Houston-based Holt Lunsford Commercial represented the landlord, Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Financial Group. B&G Foods was represented by Mike Hill of Michael Hill Properties.
HOUSTON AND ATASCOCITA, TEXAS — Chipotle Mexican Grill has signed leases for two new locations in metropolitan Houston. In northwest Houston, the restaurant signed a ground lease for a 15,432-square-foot location within Vintage Park Shopping Center, located at the intersection of Tomball Parkway and Louetta Road. Debbie Knox of H-E-B, also the anchor of the center, provided in-house representation for the landlord. Matt Keener, Russell Janicek and Mark Raines of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) represented Chipotle. In Atascocita, Chipotle leased 2,261 square feet of space at the West Lake Crossing retail center. Alex Makrus and Jazz Hamilton of CBRE represented the landlord, Trammell Crow Co. Chipotle was again represented by Keener, Janicek and Raines. Terms of the leases were not disclosed.