AUSTIN, TEXAS — BAE Systems, a British multinational aerospace and defense contractor, will open a $150 million office and manufacturing campus in Austin’s Parmer Business Park. The company is working with Karlin Real Estate to develop the 390,000-square-foot campus, which will also offer research and development and lab space. BAE Systems’ Austin campus will house about 1,400 employees who will primarily support the U.S. Department of Defense. Completion is scheduled for 2022.
SAN ANTONIO — Provender Partners, a California-based owner-operator of food-related industrial buildings, has sold a 267,702-square-foot cold storage facility located at 5505 Kaepa Court in San Antonio. Provender Partners purchased the asset in 2019 and implemented a multimillion-dollar capital improvement plan prior to signing Dollar General to a 10-year lease. Guy Ponticello and Robert Gibson of CBRE, along with Scott Delphey of Food Properties Group, represented Provender Partners in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Dallas-based developer StreetLevel Investments has opened the 250,000-square-foot Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch retail power center in Fort Worth. Specific stores that have opened at the center, which is 90 percent leased, include Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Tuesday Morning, AT&T, Sprint and others. Restaurants now open include Chick-fil-A, Whataburger and MOD Pizza. The 40,000-square-foot Studio Movie Grill is expected to open at the end of summer.
CARROLLTON, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 168,725-square-foot industrial building occupied by Illinois-based Packaging Corp. of America in the northern Dallas metro of Carrollton. The property was built on 6.8 acres in 1979. Adam Abushagur of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and buyer, both of which were private investors that requested anonymity, in the transaction.
HASLET, TEXAS — A joint venture between two Dallas-area developers, Gruene Real Estate Partners and Weber & Co., will construct Intermodal Commerce Park, a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial facility in the northern Fort Worth suburb of Haslet. The three-building, Class A complex will be situated on an 82-acre site approximately one mile from Interstate 35 and near the southern end of Alliance Airport. Intermodal Commerce Park will consist of one front-load and two cross-dock buildings that feature 32- to 40-foot clear heights, deep truck courts, 186 dock doors, 10 ramp doors, 313 trailer stalls and ample car parking. Dustin Volz, John Rose, Stephen Bailey and Wells Waller of JLL arranged a five-year construction loan through First United Bank on behalf of the developers and delivered a private real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital as a joint venture equity partner. JLL is also handling leasing of the project.
HOUSTON — Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. and owner-operator MetroNational have begun the redevelopment of the 1.7 million-square-foot Memorial City Mall in Houston into a mixed-use destination. The project began on Tuesday with the demolition of the building formerly occupied by Sears, which was the mall’s original anchor tenant beginning in 1966. Gensler and Stantec are leading the project’s design efforts. Specific uses for the completed redevelopment have not yet been disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — Locally based developer Koontz Corp. has sold Foster Ridge Distribution Center, a 327,000-square-foot industrial facility located at the junction of Foster Road and Interstate 10 in San Antonio. Koontz completed the Class A facility in October 2019. The buyer is metro Philadelphia-based industrial owner and developer Exeter Property Group. Building features at Foster Ridge Distribution Center include 32-foot clear heights, 75 dock-high overhead doors, 130-foot truck courts and an ESFR sprinkler system. Trent Agnew of JLL represented Koontz Corp. in the sale, and Exeter Property Group was self-represented.
HOUSTON — Mill Creek Residential has broken ground on Modera Washington, a 341-unit multifamily project that will be located at 2520 Washington Ave. adjacent to Houston’s Old Sixth Ward Historic District. Modera Washington will feature studio, one- and two-bedroom units with 10-foot ceilings, stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops. Amenities will include a rooftop deck, pool, outdoor grilling areas, a game room, fitness center, private office space and a golf simulator. The first units are expected to be available for occupancy in late 2021.
CLEAR LAKE, TEXAS — Vista Cos., a Houston-based development and management firm, has acquired two office and retail properties totaling 30,061 square feet in the Clear Lake area, located on the city’s southeast side. The assets had a combined occupancy rate of 95 percent at the time of sale. James Bell of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Visionary Investors Ltd., in the transaction. Frost Bank provided acquisition financing.
By Taylor Williams Decreased acquisition activity across virtually all asset classes is among the most visible impacts that COVID-19 has had on commercial real estate, but capital markets professionals say there’s reason to believe deal volume will rebound sharply toward the end of the year. According to data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA), the total sales volume of commercial properties in the country was approximately $44.7 billion during the second quarter. This figure represents a staggering year-over-year decrease of 68 percent and the lowest quarterly total in more than a decade. In terms of income streams, some asset classes are faring much better than others. Social distancing mandates and stay-at-home orders, while disastrous for retail and hotel properties, have elevated demand for e-commerce, as well as manufacturing of essential goods and services. The latter trend ensures that for many industrial owners, rent collection is not a major concern. But current and future economic uncertainty are causing investors across the board to pause new acquisitions. “We saw a significant decline in demand for acquisition financing when the pandemic began,” says Jeff Erxleben, executive vice president and regional managing director of NorthMarq’s Dallas office. “There were major unknown factors coming in all …
