AUSTIN, TEXAS — Northmarq has negotiated the sale of Aubry Hills, a 192-unit apartment complex located at 8926 N. Lamar Blvd. in North Austin. Built in 1973, the property offers units with a range of floor plans that feature balconies and washer/dryer connections. Amenities include a pool, outdoor grilling and dining areas, a clubhouse, playground and sport courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball. Zar Haro, Moses Siller, Scott Lamontagne, Bryan VanCura and Will Collier of Northmarq represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction. The buyer was also a private investor.
HOUSTON — Law firm Brown Sims has signed an 35,198-square-foot office lease at Post Oak Central in Uptown Houston. The national litigation firm will occupy two full floors at the three-building, 1.2 million-square-foot campus. Amanda Nebel represented the landlord, Parkway, in the lease negotiations on an internal basis. Griff Bandy of Partners represented Brown Sims.
As the volume of commercial real estate demand, deals and development skyrockets throughout Texas, the industry is working to curate the talented workforce needed to sustain growth, with an emphasis on short-circuiting the gap between education and application. As with any business, understanding the historic principles, ethics and philosophies that govern how commercial real estate is practiced can augment anyone’s career. In addition, it doesn’t hurt to possess certain personality traits — articulation, sociability, self-motivation — that have long been associated with commercial real estate “types.” But according to professors within real estate programs at some of the state’s prominent academic institutions, simulating actual work experience at the grassroots level is what really allows students and interns to thrive early in their careers. Just as important, the industry professionals who hire and train these individuals tend to support this approach. UT Austin At the University of Texas at Austin (UT), real estate is not a formal major that students can declare, but rather a concentration within the finance program in which both undergrad and graduate students can specialize. The program typically includes 100 to 150 undergrads and 15 to 20 graduate students pursuing a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree. …
BUDA, TEXAS — Mississippi-based developer EastGroup Properties has begun construction on Stonefield 35, a 275,559-square-foot industrial project in Buda, located south of Austin. The three-building facility will be situated on 21 acres and will be able to accommodate single or multiple users. Building features will include 28-foot clear heights, 180-foot truck court depths, ESFR sprinkler systems and ample car parking. Pross Design Group is the project architect, and RC Page Construction is the general contractor. Transwestern is the leasing agent. Completion is slated for mid-2023.
LANCASTER, DALLAS AND FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of three multifamily properties totaling 411 units that are located throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex for a combined price of $58.9 million. The properties include The Meadows, a 120-unit asset in the southern Dallas suburb of Lancaster that was built in 1981; Newport Landing, a 185-unit property in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas that was constructed in 1971; and Monterrey, a 106-unit complex in Fort Worth that was completed in 1969. Al Silva and Ford Braly of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyers and sellers, all of which requested anonymity, in the three separate transactions.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — National investment firm GID has acquired a 62,496-square-foot warehouse located at 4201 Supply Court, about one mile west of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The rear-load facility features 28-foot clear heights, 10 dock-high doors, two drive-in doors and three suites averaging 20,000 square feet. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
HOUSTON — Dallas-based brokerage firm The Multifamily Group (TMG) has negotiated the sale of Glenwood Apartment Homes, a 60-unit multifamily property in Houston. Built in 1981, the property features one- and two-bedroom units with an average size of 971 square feet that are furnished with granite countertops, walk-in closets and washer/dryer connections. Communal amenities include a pool and onsite laundry facilities. Bryce Smith of TMG represented the buyer and seller, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Locally based developer Industry ATX has broken ground on Industry SOMA, a 23-unit affordable housing project in Austin’s South Menchaca neighborhood. The townhome-style residences will be reserved for households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income. Mark Odom Studio designed the project, which is slated for a fall 2025 completion.
Elizabeth Barnes, COO of NAI Plotkin, knows property management is always a labor- and people-intensive profession, no matter the day or time of year. In that regard, the pandemic did not change the best practices for the Springfield, Mass.-based full-service brokerage and management company. “The number-one best practice has always been — and remains to this day — to manage the property as if you own it, with the awareness that you don’t,” Barnes says. Treat the Asset as Your Own For Barnes, this means focusing on the asset’s value at all times. “Common area maintenance (CAM) reconciliation, capital planning, value engineering options — they need to be front and center,” she continues. “It’s not just about cutting expenses. Look at how you can add value or reduce upfront costs.” All this should be done, she states, with the owner’s goals for the property in mind. Those goals may differ based on whether the owner is, for example, looking to divest the asset. Or if the tenant’s space has gone dark. Or if a pandemic is occurring. “There is a definite focus on health and safety now, regardless of the product type,” Barnes says. “Many owners wanted HVAC and air-handling …
WEBSTER, TEXAS — Great Wolf Resorts Inc., a hospitality owner-operator known for indoor water park-themed lodging properties, has broken ground on a 27-acre project in Webster, a southeastern suburb of Houston. The resort will house 532 hotel rooms, a 95,000-square-foot indoor water park, a 58,000-square-foot family entertainment center and multiple food-and-beverage outlets. Great Wolf is financing the project in part through a $200 million investment from shareholders Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners. Construction of the resort, which is slated for a mid- to late-2024 completion, is expected to create about 600 full- and part-time jobs.