HOUSTON — Empyrean Benefit Solutions Inc. has signed a 41,667-square-foot office lease in West Houston. The provider of software for the human resources industry will occupy two full floors within Building 4 at the 39-acre CityWestPlace starting early next year. Mark O’Donnell and Jennifer Meehan of Savills represented the tenant in the lease negotiations.J.P. Hutcheson and Rima Soroka represented the owner, partnership between Parkway and Midway, on an internal basis.
HOUSTON — Birmingham, Ala.-based investment and brokerage firm Shannon Waltchack has acquired The Vintage Center, a 29,483-square-foot unanchored retail center located at 10300 Louetta Road in northwest Houston. The center was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants such as First Community Credit Union, Vintage Smile Family Dentistry, Chicken Salad Chick, Memorial Hermann-GoHealth and Trademark Salon. John Indelli and Ryan West of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS — BMC Capital has arranged a $1.8 million loan for the cash-out refinancing of an unnamed multifamily property located in the West Texas city of San Angelo. The loan was structured with a 10-year term, a fixed interest rate of 6.59 percent, a 65 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) and two years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. The borrower and direct lender were also not disclosed.
MCGREGOR, TEXAS — EFC Gases & Advanced Materials has announced plans for a $210 million semiconductor manufacturing plant in McGregor, a city located about 15 miles southwest of Waco in Central Texas. Massachusetts-based EFC has purchased 195 acres within McGregor Industrial Park to serve as the site of the plant. According to the McGregor Chamber of Commerce, the park spans a little over 2,000 acres and is home to a development and test facility for SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft company owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The EFC facility will feature a central laboratory, a logistics hub and an administrative building in addition to specialty areas for chemical synthesis operations and gas transfill activities. The City of McGregor has committed to funding infrastructure improvements at the site, including the extension of water and wastewater lines, and assisting in the construction of an industrial rail spur to enhance operational efficiency. The project, a construction timeline for which was not announced, is expected to result in the creation of at least 120 new jobs, according to EFC. EFC’s decision to invest in Texas aligns with the state’s preexisting semiconductor manufacturing operations, which include Samsung’s $17 billion plant in Taylor (metro Austin) …
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Conn’s HomePlus, a home furnishing retailer based in the Houston area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will close at least 70 stores nationwide, according to reports from multiple media outlets including CNN and USA Today. The latter publication reports that Conn’s filed for bankruptcy protection this past Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas amid slumping revenue reports and that the impacted stores are scattered across 13 states. Both news organizations report that the state with the highest concentration of closures is Florida (18), followed by Texas (nine). Conn’s was founded in 1890 and operates about 150 stores across the country, according to the company’s Wikipedia page.
DENTON, TEXAS — Dallas-based MYCON General Contractors has broken ground on an approximately 800-unit self-storage facility for U-Haul in the North Texas city of Denton. Located on a 5.9-acre site on the city’s east side, the facility will consist of three buildings totaling 70,000 net rentable square feet. More specifically, the development will comprise a 28,639-square-foot pre-engineered metal building for U-Box storage; a four-story, 98,512-square-foot self-storage building; and a 2,400-square-foot drive-up storage unit. The project, which marks MYCON’s seventh collaboration with U-Haul, is slated for a March 2025 completion.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of Cooper I-20 Building C, a 401,115-square-foot industrial facility in Arlington. Completed in 2020, the building features 36-foot clear heights, 92 loading doors, four storefronts with dedicated parking and 46 trailer storage spaces. Jim Carpenter, Jud Clements, Robby Rieke, Trevor Berry, Madeleine Supplee, David Eseke and Mark Collins of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Barings, in the transaction. John Alascio, T.J. Sullivan and Meredith Donovan, also with Cushman & Wakefield, arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the undisclosed buyer.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Serena Vista, a 120-unit apartment complex in Arlington. Built in 1980, the property offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, clubhouse and a dog park. Nick Fluellen, Bard Hoover and Chris Pearson of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, an undisclosed private investment group, in the transaction and procured the buyer, Green Mountain Properties LLC.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Colliers has negotiated a 14,581-square-foot office sublease in The Woodlands. According to LoopNet Inc., the building at 1735 Hughes Landing Blvd. was built in 2015 and totals 318,170 square feet. Tom Condon Jr., Jillian Fredericks, Norman Munoz, Michael Wu and Nic Fang of Colliers represented the sublessee, Skyline Industrial Supply, in the negotiations. Lonna Jenks, Beau Bellow and Ronnie Deyo of JLL represented the sublessor, ExxonMobil. An affiliate of Howard Hughes Holdings owns the building.
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Lee & Associates Second Quarter Report: Industrial, Office Market See Continued Challenges While Retail, Multifamily Trends Follow Region-Specific Patterns
In the first half of 2024, high interest rates led to decreased demand, higher vacancy rates, reduced construction starts and lower property sales in industrial and office, according to Lee & Associates’ 2024 Q2 North America Market Report. Meanwhile, retail saw minimal development and continued low vacancies. Retail rent growth was particularly strong in the South and Southwest. Finally, high demand for multifamily, coupled with a sudden influx of supply in the second quarter of the year, has created a market where outcomes are highly tied to region. Midwest and Northeast multifamily markets have remained stronger than their counterparts in the South and Southwest, while Western markets saw mixed growth. Lee & Associates has made their full market report available here (with complete breakdowns of cap rates by city, market rents, vacancy rates, square footage information and more). The summaries for the industrial, office, retail and multifamily sectors below provide detailed insight into the trends and trajectories likely through the end of 2024. Industrial Overview: Activity, Growth Checked by High Interest Rates Industrial market performance across North America continued to downshift in the first half of this year. Although net absorption remains positive, demand for industrial space has fallen to the lowest levels …