KATY, TEXAS — Alliance Residential has opened Prose West Cypress, a 336-unit apartment community located in the western Houston suburb of Katy. Prose West Cypress features one- and two-bedroom units with island kitchens, wood plank-style flooring and granite countertops. Amenities include a fitness center, game room and a playground. Rents start at $1,030 per month for a one-bedroom unit with a move-in special of one month of free rent, according to Apartments.com.
HOUSTON — Midland, Texas-based developer Insignia Hospitality Group has completed the 128-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel in the Bunker Hill area of Houston. The 85,803-square-foot building rises six stories and offers a fitness center and a business center, as well as complimentary breakfast. Mayse & Associates Inc. designed the project, and Lubbock-based Greenstreet Inc. served as the general contractor.
AMARILLO, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of 3501 MedCenter, a 145,096-square-foot medical office property in Amarillo. The property is situated on 11 acres and was originally built as a retail center in 1986 before being converted to healthcare in 1995. Alex Vidal of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a locally based partnership led by McCartt Commercial Real Estate Services, in the transaction. Vidal also sourced the buyer, Equity Velocity Fund, which acquired the asset at an occupancy rate of 91 percent.
HOUSTON — Francesca’s Holdings Corp. will close 140 stores throughout the country by Jan. 30, 2021, the Houston-based women’s apparel and accessories retailer announced on Monday. According to The Wall Street Journal, the 140 shuttered stores represent about 20 percent of the company’s total store count. Francesca’s also said that if the company is unable to raise sufficient capital to continue funding operations and paying obligations, it will likely seek to restructure its debt load by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Francesca’s stock price opened at $3.53 per share on Tuesday, Nov. 17, down from $15.91 per share a year ago.
HUMBLE, TEXAS — Developer Jackson-Shaw has completed Parc 59, a 279,632-square-foot industrial project located in the northern Houston suburb of Humble. Designed by Powers Brown Architecture and built by Cadence McShane Construction Co., Parc 59 consists of an 83,436-square-foot building with 28-foot clear heights and a 196,196-square-foot building with 32-foot clear heights. The buildings also feature 130-foot truck courts, ESFR sprinkler systems and a combined 437 car parking spaces. Gulf Atlantic Packaging Corp. (GAPCO) recently signed a lease to occupy 43,539 square feet at the larger of the two buildings.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Development Services Group (DSG) will open the 226-room Kimpton Harper Hotel in downtown Fort Worth in spring 2021. The hotel will be housed within the 24-story historic Farmers & Mechanics National Bank building and will feature a penthouse bar and lounge, 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space and a rooftop observation deck. Davidson Hotels & Resorts will manage the property.
ODESSA, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Permian Storage, a 123-unit facility located in the West Texas city of Odessa. The self-storage property spans 15,513 square feet of net rentable of non-climate-controlled space, with units ranging in size from 45 to 280 square feet. Arol Horkavy and Jon Danklefs of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a limited liability company, in the transaction. Other terms of sale were not disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — Partners Capital, the investment arm of NAI Partners, has acquired Blanco Crossing, a 22,606-square-foot shopping center in north-central San Antonio. The property was 84 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Sake Café, The Mailing Spot, Kennedy’s Public House and KC Pet Products. Andrew Pappas and Adam Hawkins of the Partners Capital team worked with Philip Levy and Jack Newman of Marcus & Millichap to close the deal. Veritex Bank provided acquisition financing. Partners Capital targets commercial real estate properties in Texas in the $5 million to $30 million range.
PITTSBURGH AND HOUSTON — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and Spanish financial institution Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to acquire BBVA’s American operations, BBVA USA Bancshares Inc., for $11.6 billion. The transaction, which has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, is expected to close in mid-2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The transaction will bolster PNC’s national presence and create the fifth-largest bank in the United States, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PNC will move beyond Charlotte-based Truist, the newly formed merger of equals between BB&T and SunTrust Bank. Houston-based BBVA USA Bancshares manages $104 billion in assets and provides commercial and retail banking services through its banking subsidiary BBVA USA. The bank operates 637 branches in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. PNC operates 2,300 bank branches and nearly 18,000 partner ATMs nationwide. As of Sept. 30, 2020, PNC had $300 billion of assets under administration. When combined with PNC’s banking footprint, the expanded company will have a coast-to-coast franchise with a presence in 29 of the 30 largest markets in the United States. “Our acquisition of BBVA USA will accelerate …
By Brett Merz, senior vice president and asset manager, KBS As this unprecedented year hits the midpoint of the fourth quarter and office investors consider their options, one market in Texas stands out: Dallas. This market has historically shown strong resiliency and continues to do so throughout the pandemic. While Texas as a whole has been ahead of many other states in terms of allowing tenants that are eager to return to the office after the COVID-19 shutdown to do so, the Dallas office market has especially embraced reopening and returning to work. According to a new report by Kastle Systems, Dallas County leads the country in terms of the share of employees who are back to their workplaces following government-mandated shutdowns. Across the 10 largest metroplexes in the country, an average of 27.4 percent of employees are back in the office, while Dallas employees are returning to work at a rate of 43.3 percent. This figure compares favorably to proportions of employees returning to offices in other markets, including Los Angeles (34 percent), Washington, D.C. (24 percent) and San Francisco (14.7 percent). This news is a testament to tenants’ appetite for occupying office space and the market’s resiliency despite …
