LANCASTER, TEXAS — Lee & Associates has negotiated a 92,710-square-foot industrial lease at Park 20/35 in Lancaster, a southern suburb of Dallas. Becky Thompson of Lee & Associates represented the tenant, Motors & Armatures Inc., an HVAC component manufacturer, in the lease negotiations. Kacy Jones, John Hendricks and Trapper Graff of CBRE represented the landlord, CalSTRS.
The phenomenal growth taking place in Austin and San Antonio has shown little sign of slowing over the past several years. These two mid-size Texas cities are developing quickly and continue to undergo rapid change. Both are ranked in the top 10 fastest-growing metro areas in the country and both have unemployment levels at near-record lows. Tenant Profiles The industries driving the economy in these two central Texas cities are quite different. Each has strong tourism sectors, but that is where the similarities end. In Austin, the tech industry, government, life sciences and creative arts are keeping the market extremely active. Defense, healthcare, oil and gas and the burgeoning markets of cybersecurity and biotech are driving absorption in San Antonio. New tenants are coming to San Antonio to take advantage of lower costs and an abundant workforce — a positive trend that reflects strong fundamentals and viability. As for Austin, Fortune 500 companies continue to pour into the city not only to capitalize on the lower cost of doing business in Texas, but also to recruit and lure a highly educated workforce. Austin’s third-consecutive gold medal ranking as the “Best Place to Live” by U.S. News & World Report makes …
DALLAS — Canada-based Granite Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired a 2.3 million-square-foot industrial facility situated on 101 acres at 1301 Chalk Hill Road in west Dallas that is fully leased for an initial lease term of 20 years. The Dallas Morning News reports that the tenant is Amazon. Features of the building, which is located about seven miles west of downtown, include 41-foot clear heights, 2,500 auto parking spaces and 300 trailer parking spaces. Granite REIT acquired the property as part of a $296 million acquisition package that also included large-scale industrial facilities in Georgia and Indiana.
SAN ANTONIO — Locally based developer Koontz Corp. has completed Foster Ridge Distribution Center, a 327,000-square-foot industrial project in northeast San Antonio. The property is situated on 21 acres near a distribution center leased to Dollar General and the 871-acre site that will eventually house H-E-B’s distribution facilities. Foster Ridge Distribution Center is a cross-dock building that features 32-foot clear heights, 75 dock-high overhead doors, 130-foot truck courts and an ESFR sprinkler system. Houston-based Powers Brown served as the architect for the project, and San Antonio-based R.C. Page was the general contractor.
HOUSTON — JLL has negotiated the sale of Villa Nueva, a 542-unit apartment community located at 5300 W. Gulf Bank Road in Houston. The property was built in phases between 1980 and 1983 and features one- and two-bedroom units. Amenities include multiple pools, storage rooms and onsite laundry facilities. Chip Nash, Bob Heard and Greg Austin of JLL represented the seller, Claro Villanueva, in the transaction. Iliad Realty Group purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
DALLAS — Chicago-based Convexity Properties will renovate and rebrand the Magnolia Hotel Park Cities, a 297-room hotel that anchors the 12-acre Eastline development in Dallas. The six-month construction project will enhance 297 guest rooms, introduce a café and grab-and-go market and curate a lobby lounge with a gastro-pub concept and live music. Dallas-based Yost Architects and Studio 11 Design have partnered in planning and designing the improvements. The renovated hotel, which will be rebranded as The Beeman Hotel at Eastline, will offer amenities such as 12,000 square feet of meeting space, a pool, fitness center and a business center.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Cambria Hotels has opened a 119-room property adjacent to the CityLine mixed-used development in Richardson, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. The hotel features a bistro and full-service bar, pool, fitness center and multi-functional meeting space. Best Hospitality and Dallas-based investor Vipin Nambiar developed the property, which is the sixth Cambria-branded hotel in Texas.
NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS — California-based investment and development firm Passco Cos. has acquired Lakeview Villas, a 313-unit apartment community in New Braunfels, a northeastern suburb of San Antonio. The community’s one and two-bedroom units feature stainless steel appliances, hardwood-style flooring, granite countertops, brushed nickel hardware, gooseneck faucets in the kitchen and private detached garages. Amenities include a resort-style pool with tanning ledge and outdoor kitchen, poolside lounge and fire pit, as well as a fitness center, a resident clubhouse and a walking trail surrounding a lake on the grounds. Will Balthrope, Jordan Featherston and Drew Garza of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, brokered the sale on behalf of the seller.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Songy Highroads LLC, an Atlanta-based investment and development firm, has acquired Sugar Creek Place I, a 151,722-square-foot office building located in the southwestern Houston suburb of Sugar Land. The six-story, Class A building was 86 percent leased at the time of sale. Sugar Creek Place I recently received more than $1.7 million in capital improvements, including the addition of a new conference facility, tenant lounge and common area, as well as an upgraded lobby and corridors. Marty Hogan and Dan Miller of JLL represented the seller, HighBrook Investors, in the transaction, while Ed Coco, Matt Casey and Michael Johnson of JLL arranged acquisition financing on behalf of Songy Highroads. Transwestern Commercial Services handles leasing of the property, which was 86 percent occupied at the time of sale.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin-based Roscoe Property Management (RPM) has been awarded the B/K portfolio, which consists of 14 apartment communities totaling approximately 3,500 units, the majority of which are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston markets. RPM has now added more than 50 communities to its management portfolio in 2019 alone.