HUTTO, TEXAS — Locally based owner-operator Aspen Heights Partners has acquired 36 acres in the northern Austin suburb of Hutto for the development of Bell Yard, a 219-unit single-family rental (SFR) community. The property will offer two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes with attached garages, modern interiors and designer finishes, as well as an assortment of resort-style amenities. Construction is scheduled to begin in May of next year and to be complete in late 2023.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — A partnership between Maryland-based investment firm FCP and VaultCap Partners has purchased Prairie Ridge Apartments, a 100-unit multifamily property located in the central metroplex city of Grand Prairie. Prairie Ridge offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans and amenities such as a playground and onsite laundry facilities. The partnership will merge the property with the adjacent Corey Place Apartments, which it acquired this summer, and operate the combined community as Marabella on Pioneer. Nick Fluellen, Bard Hoover and Wesley Racht of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, an undisclosed limited liability company, in the off-market transaction.
By Greg Langston, principal, managing director, Avison Young The Dallas North Tollway (DNT) is a staple thoroughfare for Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW), connecting the metroplex’s urban core in Dallas to the thriving northern suburbs. Over the past 12 years, since the recovery from the Great Recession began, much of the market’s activity and energy has occurred along this tollway. Weighing the performance of assets in submarkets that connect to the DNT versus those that don’t, those in DNT-connected submarkets have outperformed in total and in annualized averages. Centers of Action Three core submarkets — Uptown/Turtle Creek in the urban core, Upper Tollway/West Plano and Frisco/The Colony in the far north region — have driven much of this growth. The northern suburbs have done a great job attracting massive corporate headquarters and relocations deals, while Uptown/Turtle Creek has created a unique identity as a thriving urban hub full of walkable amenities, mixed-use developments and more. Beyond the DNT, major developments like Cypress Waters have helped drive strong interest and activity to the center of the region. To the west, Tarrant and Denton counties have seen robust growth along State Highway 114, with several major institutional employers like Deloitte, Charles Schwab and Fidelity …
By Taylor Williams Facing extended construction timelines and elevated costs of materials due to COVID-19’s disruption of global, national and local supply chains, multifamily developers are being forced to pivot, improvise and forge new relationships with suppliers in order to manage overall risk levels within their projects. Even before the pandemic, real estate developers and users across all asset classes understood how crucial competent supply chain management was to their budgets. But the global health crisis has reinforced that fact, especially for developers whose product type remains in high demand, such as housing providers in the rapidly growing state of Texas. In terms of basic economics, when COVID-19 hit and ground global commerce to a halt, suppliers across a range of industries decreased their inventories in response to sluggish demand for sundry goods and services. With vaccines now widely available, travel picking back up and businesses reopening at full capacity, pent-up demand is being unleashed on these industries, including real estate development, forcing suppliers to rebuild their inventories. Yet this process is not a simple matter of flipping a switch back on. Furthermore, being aware of a problem is very different from actually solving it. And a global pandemic that …
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Locally based developer Crescent Real Estate has broken ground on a new mixed-use project in Fort Worth’s Cultural District that is valued at $250 million, according to The Dallas Morning News. Current plans for the project, which was announced in February, call for 175 residential units, a 200-room boutique hotel and a 160,000-square-foot office building that will house the headquarters of tenants such as Goff Capital, Canyon Ranch and Contango Oil & Gas. Crescent Real Estate also plans to move its headquarters into the new office building. Construction is scheduled to be complete in mid-2023.
SAN ANTONIO — Valor Club USA, an organization dedicated to helping veterans and servicemen and women transition from military to civilian life, has opened an office in San Antonio. The group’s president, Michael McDowell, is overseeing construction of a 200-acre campus with recreational facilities, residential units, a hotel and commercial and retail space. In addition, the development will feature veteran support services and an entertainment district anchored by an indoor/outdoor performance and training center. Gensler designed the project.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — CBRE has negotiated the sale of Harris Ridge Business Center, a 387,838-square-foot industrial park in North Austin. Harris Ridge consists of five buildings that were constructed in phases between 2008 and 2021. The park was fully leased at the time of sale to a roster of 11 tenants with an average suite size of 32,392 square feet. Boston-based TA Realty purchased the property from Austin-based HPI Real Estate Services for an undisclosed price. Randy Baird, Jonathan Bryan, Ryan Thornton and Eliza Bachhuber of CBRE brokered the deal on behalf of HPI.
DALLAS — A fund backed by Dallas-based Nicholas Residential and Hughes Capital Partners have purchased Bellevue at The Bluffs, a 473-unit apartment community located in the Bluffview neighborhood of Dallas. Built in 2019 and formerly known as Aura Bluffview, the property features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, resident clubhouse, business center and a lounge. Paul Harris, Eric Calub, Thad Wetterau and Gregory Smith of Berkadia represented the seller, Texas-based Trinsic Residential Group, in the transaction.
FORT WORTH AND DENTON, TEXAS — An affiliate of Livingston Street Capital has acquired a portfolio of two active adult communities totaling 402 units in North Texas. The properties include a 162-unit community in Fort Worth, which the firm has rebranded as The Spring at Silverton, and a 240-unit community in Denton, which the firm has rebranded as Sunstone Village. These assets bring Livingston’s active adult and independent living portfolio to nearly 600 units in the Dallas-Fort Worth market and more than 1,500 units nationally.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — A joint venture led by Los Angeles-based investment firm Lowe has acquired three hotels in The Woodlands, located about 30 miles north of Houston, from The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) for $252 million. The properties include The Woodlands Resort, a 402-room hotel that was built in 1972; Embassy Suites by Hilton, The Woodlands at Hughes Landing, a 205-room asset that was constructed in 2015; and The Westin at The Woodlands, a 302-room property that was completed in 2016. CoralTree Hospitality, a subsidiary of Lowe, will manage the hotels. In addition, the new ownership will invest approximately $25 million in capital improvements across all three properties.