FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS — Hillwood recently sold 62 acres in its 3,827-acre Sienna South community in Fort Bend County to the Fort Bend Independent School District. The site will be used for the development of a high school and an elementary school. Construction on the high school is planned to begin this summer, and completion is expected in August 2010. Johnson Development Corp. is assisting Hillwood by providing the necessary infrastructure, including roads and utilities, to serve the schools.
Texas
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to purchase the Pier 1 Imports building in downtown Fort Worth. The 460,000-square-foot office building sits on 14.7 acres near the banks of the Trinity River. Chesapeake will use the facility to accommodate further growth of its Barnett Shale district headquarters and its North Texas employees.
STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has closed the sale of Stephenville Retail Center in Stephenville. Gavin Kam and Brad Kam of the firm's Dallas office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Dallas-based developer Randy Box with Croesus Capital Partners LLC. Richard Ringer and David Levy of Marcus & Millichap's West Los Angeles office represented the buyer, a California-based limited liability company. The 100 percent leased center, which includes tenants such as Cold Stone Creamery, AT&T Wireless, GameStop and Wing Stop, is located on Washington Street.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) is developing 4 Waterway Square, a 216,000-square-foot, Class A office building in The Waterway Square District of The Woodlands Town Center. Located at the intersection of Waterway Square Place and Woodloch Forest Drive in The Woodlands, the new nine-story building will begin construction soon, Elkus-Manfredi of Boston designed 4 Waterway Square; Harvey Builders of Houston is the general contractor. Gensler Houston is the architect of record for the building, which will include an adjacent 1,900-space Waterway Square garage. Both 4 Waterway Square and the garage are expected to be complete in the summer of 2009.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Sheelin McSharry Texas LP, an affiliated of Dallas-based Defeaseit, has closed on the purchase of 1,170 acres in North Fort Worth. The land, which is bordered by Peden Road on the north, Bonds Ranch Road on the south and Boat Club Road on the west, will be used for residential and commercial development.
MAGNOLIA, TEXAS — Target has signed on to anchor Westwood Village, a 308,542-square-foot shopping center being developed by Regency Centers in Magnolia. The retailer will open a 126,874-square-foot store. Ross Dress For Less, Gold’s Gym, PetSmart and Famous Footwear also have signed leases at the center. Chili’s Grill and Chik-fil-A have leased retail space on the out parcels. The property, which is located at FM 2978 and FM 1488, is scheduled to open in July.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Duke Realty Corp.’s construction team has been selected to develop a 50,000-square-foot office building for Galderma, a joint venture between Nestlé and L’Oréal. The new two-story facility will be located on 4.61 acres off Interstate 35 West in North Fort Worth, adjacent to Galderma’s existing headquarters building and distribution center. Galderma purchased the land, which is situated on the Fort Worth section of AllianceTexas, from Hillwood. Construction is expected to begin this month, and completion is scheduled for January 2009.
DALLAS — The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Embrey Engineering Building with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction (LEED-NC) Gold level certification. This makes the building, which was built by Turner Construction and designed by Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford, the only collegiate academic building in Texas to receive this level of certification. The Embrey Engineering Building opened in 2006.
SPRING, TEXAS — Greg Young and Cutt Ableson of Live Oak Capital have arranged $4.7 million in acquisition fixed financing for a 35,321-square-foot retail property in Spring. Located at 6370 Louetta, the property features Pure Fitness as the anchor tenant. Additional retailers include Perfect Tan, Champions Hair and Serenity Day Spa. The center was completed in March 2007. ViewPoint Bank in Houston structured the loan.
THE WOODLAND, TEXAS — Drew Morris of Studley’s Houston office has negotiated the purchase of a two-story building in The Woodlands. Lighting Inc. will occupy 14,000 square feet of retail space in the facility, which is located at 255 Ed English Lane. Lighting Inc. purchased the building from K&B of Walden LLC.