AMARILLO, TEXAS — General contractor Adolfson & Peterson Construction, in partnership with Potter County, has broken ground on the new District Courts Building, a 158,250-square-foot civic project in Amarillo. Designed by HOK Group, the five-story building will house courtrooms, a jury assembly room, county offices, holding areas and records storage space. Completion is slated for late 2022.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: HST) has acquired the fee simple interest in the 448-room Hyatt Regency Austin for approximately $161 million in cash. The purchase price represents a capitalization rate of 10 percent and a 20 to 25 percent discount to pre-COVID pricing, according to HST. Hyatt will continue to manage the hotel under a long-term agreement. The seller was undisclosed. Situated on nearly six acres along Lady Bird Lake, the waterfront property is located near the city’s South Congress District and Zilker Park. The hotel’s rooms were renovated in 2015 and its meeting space was expanded in 2018. The property features 45,000 square feet of meeting space, including two ballrooms. There are also two food and beverage outlets as well as an outdoor pool and a fitness center. “As travel resumes, we expect the well-located Hyatt Regency Austin to benefit from a strong rebound led by Austin’s multiple leisure and business demand drivers that are anchored in world-renowned music festivals, sporting events and blue-chip corporations,” says James Risoleo, president and CEO of HST. “Additionally, we are encouraged by the reported contraction in Austin’s hotel construction pipeline relative to pre-pandemic levels and by the market’s …
As one of the fastest-growing markets of the past decade that continues to make headlines for high-profile developments and corporate relocations, Austin has had some economic and demographic cushion from the headwinds brought on by COVID-19 over the past year. While leasing and investment sales activity essentially froze at the onset of the pandemic, as it did in virtually every major U.S. market, Austin’s strong growth in office-using jobs, natural pace of in-migration and vibrant culture all contributed to a swift and stable rebound. With a full year of pandemic living now under the belt, it’s a good time for a by-the-numbers evaluation of the public health crisis’ impacts on various property types within the state capital. In addition, it’s an appropriate point at which to reflect on the degree to which pandemic-accelerated trends like online shopping and working from home are going to influence future deals and projects. These shifts in consumer behavior have major implications for all commercial asset classes. To that end, Texas Real Estate Business conducted a roundtable discussion with leasing and investment sales professionals representing multiple property types at the Austin office of NAI Partners. What follows are their edited responses: Tyler Jaynes: Industrial’s Staying …
AMARILLO, TEXAS — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZ) has announced plans to open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Amarillo, its first in the northwest Texas city, in a move that is expected to create about 500 new full-time jobs. Citing an announcement from the Amarillo Economic Development Corp., local news outlet KFDA reports that the facility will be located at the corner of Northeast 24th Avenue and Loop 335 and will generate approximately $35 million in economic impact. The opening is slated for early 2022. The developer was not disclosed.
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has brokered the sale of Cross Creek at Grapevine Ranch, a 392-unit apartment community located roughly midway between downtown Dallas and Fort Worth. Built on 35 acres in 1999, the property offers a pool, business center and an indoor basketball court. Drew Kile and Joey Tumminello of IPA represented the seller, a joint venture between an affiliate of The Carlyle Group and VCT Capital Partners, in the transaction. The duo also procured the undisclosed private buyer.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Texas-based developer Presidium has broken ground on Phase I of Presidium Waterford, a 283-unit multifamily project that will be located near The Domain in North Austin. Designed by Dallas-based O’Brien Architects and Atlanta-based Dwell Design Studio, the property will offer amenities such as a pool, fire pits, fitness center, office lounges and a bocce court. The first units are scheduled to be delivered in December 2022. Presidium is currently in the design stage of Phase II, which it estimates will include 350 units.
WACO, TEXAS — Dallas-based entertainment concept Main Event will open a 48,559-square-foot venue at Cottonwood Creek Market, a 285,000-square-foot shopping center in Waco owned by Houston-based NewQuest Properties. Main Event will join Topgolf and a 14-screen Cinemark Holdings Inc. as the other entertainment anchors at the center, which is located near Baylor University’s campus on the city’s southwest side. Main Event’s new location will feature 20 bowling lanes, multi-level laser tag areas and a virtual reality gaming space, along with food and beverage offerings. Construction is scheduled to begin this month and to be complete in the first quarter of 2022. Austen Baldridge represented NewQuest Properties in the lease negotiations on an internal basis. Dawn Greiner of SRS Real Estate Partners represented Main Event. Topgolf and Cinemark are scheduled to open this spring and summer, respectively.
SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS — Locally based financial intermediary Terrydale Capital has arranged a $1.7 million acquisition loan for a retail property in the Fort Worth suburb of Southlake. Driver’s Edge Auto Repair occupies the single-tenant property. Quinn Conway of Terrydale Capital arranged the loan, which was structured with a fixed 3.25 percent interest rate for five years and a 25-year amortization schedule, through an undisclosed bank. The borrower was also undisclosed.
GALVESTON, TEXAS — A public-private partnership between Royal Caribbean International and the Port of Galveston, located in Southeast Texas, is moving forward with development of a new $100 million cruise ship terminal. The partnership will develop the two-story property within an eastern section of the port known as Pier 10 and will harbor one of the Miami-based cruise line’s largest ships, the Allure of the Seas. Construction of the facility, which will span approximately 170,000 square feet and 10 acres, is set to begin in April for completion in fall 2022. The project was originally announced in December 2019. At that time, construction was expected to begin in April 2020 and wrap up in fall 2021. Those plans were significantly delayed by the outbreak of COVID-19, which hurt the cruise industry as part of the larger hospitality sector. The facility will feature state-of-the-art technology, including mobile check-in and facial recognition platforms to expedite guests’ arrival. The plans also include a staging and loading area; bus and taxi staging areas; and substantial parking space. The terminal is designed to meet LEED certification standards. The partnership between Royal Caribbean and the Port of Galveston dates back to 2002, when the luxury cruise …
NorthMarq executives recently connected with nearly 50 correspondent lenders and more than 150 debt experts in an effort to better understand the capital markets environment in 2021 and to share information about opportunities within the market. Jeff Erxleben, executive vice president and executive managing director, Debt & Equity, with NorthMarq, shares some of the insights from those conversations, and he discusses changes in the market, ranging from new loan programs by life companies to the impact of FHA/HUD’s new MAP guide implemented this month. He also talks about the growing interest in single-family rental and build-for-rent properties, and he mentions trends in affordable housing development and value-add strategy for buyers of affordable and workforce housing. “Overall, we’ve seen strong volume at the beginning of 2021, and I would expect that to continue throughout the year as the liquidity in the debt and equity markets remains strong,” Erxleben notes. “Transaction volume is up; there is a large sentiment that there is pent-up demand to get deals done.” He adds, “We’re seeing the fastest rebound and largest amount of activity in high-growth, business-friendly Sunbelt states — Texas, Florida, Arizona and the Carolinas. Other states, like California, where activity has been more …
