HOUSTON, ANGLETON and SEABROOK, TEXAS — Brandon Brown, Jamie Mullin and Jamie Safier of LMI Capital have placed bridge debt for the acquisition of four separate garden-style apartment complexes in metro Houston. For the first transaction, Mullin procured a $10.5 million, floating-rate loan through a regional bank for a 310-unit asset in west Houston. The terms included an initial 15-month interest-only period, open prepayment structure and a significant rehab component. Working on behalf of the borrower for the second transaction, Safier originated a five-year, fixed-rate loan for a 40-unit asset in Seabrook. The loan equated to 83 percent of the purchase price and included 12 months of interest-only payments and no prepayment restrictions. A portion of the proceeds will be used for minor capital improvements planned at the property. Brown secured the last two bridge financings, the first of which was an $18 million, floating-rate loan for a 900-unit asset in north Houston. The bridge debt featured two years of interest-only payments and a significant rehab component, which will be used to improve the buildings’ exteriors and complete upgrades to the units’ interiors. The final transaction was the financing for a 140-unit complex in Brazoria County that represented 85 percent …
HOUSTON — CBRE has arranged a 14,240-square-foot office relocation for D&M Auto Leasing in Houston. D&M Auto Leasing, a Dallas-based auto leasing company, also operates locations in Dallas, Fort Worth and Grand Prairie. The company will be relocating its office from the Galleria area to Executive Plaza at 4635 Southwest Freeway. Kevin Saxe of CBRE’s Houston office represented D&M Auto Leasing in market analysis, site selection and lease negotiations with the landlord, EP Office Holdings LP. John Hornbuckle of Cypressbrook Co. represented EP Office Holdings. D&M Auto Leasing is expected to occupy the new space this fall.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Alliance Architects has completed the design of a new medical office building in Frisco. Located at 5375 Coit Road north of the Sam Rayburn Tollway, the multi-tenant medical office building features 21,000 square feet of medical office space. Tenants include Foot & Ankle Center of Frisco, Lone Star Neurology, Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation Center Outpatient Services and Texas Vein & Aesthetics. Core Construction was the general contractor.
DALLAS — Bart Dickinson of NorthMarq Capital’s Dallas office has arranged the $3.5 million refinancing of Oak Lawn Crossing shopping center, a 19,500-square-foot retail property located at 2920 Oak Lawn Ave. in Dallas. The loan was structured with a 12-year term and 20-year amortization schedule. NorthMarq arranged financing for the borrower through its correspondent relationship with a life insurance company.
SAN ANTONIO — JLL has entered into an agreement to acquire Travis Commercial, a San Antonio-based real estate leader in property leasing and management, multi-market corporate services, tenant representation, investment sales and construction management. The acquisition is scheduled to close in the next few weeks, subject to customary closing conditions. Commercial principals Mark Krenger, Chuck King and Jeff Miller will join as managing directors and share leadership positions of the combined business. Senior team members Roger Hill and Lisa Mittel will join the firm along with more than 30 industry experts and staff. Krenger and King will oversee agency leasing, and Miller will lead the tenant representation and markets corporate solutions groups. The leadership trio will work under the direction of Jeff Staubach and David Carroll, president and market director of the south-central region. Travis Commercial was co-founded by Krenger and King in 1998, with Miller joining in 1999, and has since grown into a full-service commercial real estate firm.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — Ventures Development Group LLC has closed a $29 million loan and broke ground on a 247-unit apartment community located at 3090 Outlet Parkway in Grand Prairie. Leasing is expected to begin in spring 2017, with completion of the property expected by the following fall. The project is located at the northeastern quadrant of I-20 and Texas Highway 360. The one-, two- and three-bedroom residences will include granite countertops and in-unit washers and dryers. Amenities will include a fitness center, clubroom and tenant lounge, swimming pool and a structured parking garage with direct access to all residential units, which will range in size from 650 to 1,400 square feet. Humphreys & Partners Architects designed the project. Dallas-based Realty Capital Partners LLC provided a portion of the equity capital, and San Francisco-based Realty Shares Inc. provided the preferred equity capital. Dougherty Mortgage provided the construction and permanent financing. Stream Residential, a division of Stream Realty Partners, will manage leasing and marketing efforts.
EL PASO, TEXAS — Dallas-based Covington Group Inc. has begun a multi-million dollar capital improvement project for the six-building, 548,629-square-foot Butterfield Trail portfolio in El Paso. Affiliates of Covington Group acquired the portfolio from Butterfield Trail Trust 1 earlier this year for an undisclosed price. Covington Group has hired Christian Perez Giese and Chad McCleskey of CBRE’s El Paso office as the portfolio’s leasing agents. The portfolio, made up of warehouse and flex buildings, was 69 percent occupied at the time of purchase. The most significant capital improvements are underway at 19 Leigh Fisher Blvd., where there is a 120,000-square-foot vacancy. Improvements include a white box inside the warehouse area, new exterior and interior lighting and exterior paint and landscaping, as well as removal of a former tenant’s manufacturing infrastructure and overall deferred maintenance to the property. Covington expects to complete improvements to the entire portfolio by the end of this summer.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Steve Doyle has been promoted to vice president of business operations at Hill & Wilkinson General Contractors. Doyle will serve as the firm’s general counsel and oversee all legal activities of Hill & Wilkinson, including risk management and contracts. Steve’s experience includes the application of construction law and developing an understanding of the risks in the construction industry. Prior to joining Hill & Wilkinson, Steve served as corporate counsel for Austin Industries. He earned his bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law. Steve teaches a construction law course at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. He is a member of the construction law section of the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association Forum on the construction industry. He is also a past chair of the construction law section of the Dallas Bar Association.
SAN ANTONIO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of North Central Federal Clinic, a 34,500-square foot office property located in San Antonio. Joshua Murphy and Kenneth Hartmann of Marcus & Millichap’s San Antonio office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor, and also secured and represented the buyer, a private equity fund. North Central Federal Clinic is located at 17440 Henderson Pass. The United States Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense built the property to serve the medical needs of veterans.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS) has moved into a new office building located at 13151 W. Airport Blvd. in Sugar Land. Designed by Studio RED and built by Rosenberger Construction, the commercial office building features a climbing rope net in the lobby and an adult slide. HCSS’s goal was to create a fun, energetic and creative atmosphere to serve as a catalyst for retaining and recruiting talent. The 15,400-square-foot building, intended for HCSS’s software development group, is organized into pods that accommodate six to eight employees. A lounge space joins the pods together and is open to both floors. Conference rooms, manager offices and support spaces are also included.