The collapse of oil and natural gas prices has reduced the value of commercial, industrial and residential properties across Texas, and threatens to reduce those values even further. This market collapse greatly impacts property tax appraisals and related tax revenue, especially as it relates to upstream, midstream and downstream properties, and to a lesser extent, commercial properties in general. Now more than ever, owners need to ensure they’re paying their share of property taxes — and nothing more. Judicial challenges are becoming increasingly popular due to their effectiveness in reducing appraisals to align with fair market values. The Houston Chronicle reported that there were 2,541 active lawsuits over commercial property valuations for the 2015 tax year in Harris County alone. The owners of 33 of the 34 high-rise commercial properties in downtown Houston have filed a judicial property tax challenge, as reported by the Houston Business Journal, and Exxon Mobil is suing the Harris County Appraisal District for its $1 billion appraisal of Exxon’s newly constructed campus. To file a judicial appeal, an owner must first file an administrative appeal with the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). These protests are common and typically yield a modest reduction in the appraised value. …
SAN ANTONIO — Stream Realty Partners has broken ground on Phase II of the company’s One51 Office Centre in the Westover Hills area of San Antonio. The Class A project will consist of a 101,000-square-foot office building located off of Highway 151. The two-story building will be completed in December. Carolyn Hinchey Shaw of Stream Realty Partners Central Texas will lease the office property, which will offer floor plates ranging from 22,000 to 101,000 square feet. The property, owned by Stream, will feature Class A finishes, 10-foot ceilings, 24-hour access, visibility from Highway 151 and dual-pane glass windows. The property is located on 9 acres near San Antonio International Airport. Westover Hills is home to numerous corporate campuses, including Nationwide Insurance, Wells Fargo, Hartford Insurance, Kohl’s, Capital Group, Chase Bank and Microsoft.
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — A joint venture between Alex. Brown Realty (ABR) and Asset Campus Housing (ACH) has acquired Dakota Ranch, a student housing project in San Marcos. ABR Chesapeake Fund V, a value-add real estate fund sponsored by ABR, invested $5.9 million in the joint venture. Dakota Ranch is a 316-bed student housing property located near the main campus of Texas State University. Purpose-built as student housing in 2003, the property contains 188 apartment units located within 10 three-story buildings on 17 acres. At closing, the property was 99 percent occupied for the 2015-2016 school year. The property will undergo capital improvements that are expected to drive higher rents for the 2016-2017 school year. Baltimore-based ABR is a privately owned real estate investment manager organized in 1972.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — CBRE has negotiated the sale of Fox Hollow Apartments, an 86-unit multifamily community in Grand Prairie. Milwood Apartments LLC purchased the asset from Fox Hollow Apartments LLC for an undisclosed price. Chris Deuillet with CBRE’s Dallas office represented the seller. The 85,152-square-foot asset is located at 1008 S. Beltline Road. The property was built in 1970 and renovated in 1990. The complex features a pool, basketball court and playground. It was 97 percent occupied at closing.
PLANO, TEXAS — KBS Realty Advisors has signed two new leases totaling 22,578 square feet at Tollway North Office Park in Plano. SomnoMed, a treatment facility providing solutions for sleep-related breathing disorders, signed a lease for 17,254 square feet, and Eikon Consulting Group, a full-service design and consulting firm, signed a 5,324-square-foot lease. Tollway North Office Park consists of seven Class A office buildings located within Legacy Business Park. The one-story buildings range in size from 29,023 square feet to 64,137 square feet. The property covers 27 acres and has 1,400 parking spaces. Construction at the property was completed in 2001. Johnathan Hill and Carlie Wilmes of Morrow Hill represented SomnoMed and Al Paniagua of Swearingen represented Eikon. Justin Miller of Transwestern represented KBS Realty Advisors in the lease transactions.
IRVING, TEXAS — Lane Kommer of Henry S. Miller’s investments and land division has brokered the sale of 4.5 acres with 14,000 square feet of industrial and warehouse space at 310 Rogers Road in Irving. The asset and land, located just off Irving Boulevard, was purchased for the purpose of adding additional parking to a soon-to-be-opened second location of a country dancing, live entertainment and dining venue. An undisclosed buyer purchased the land and warehouse from Lorac Real Estate.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Trademark Property Co. is under contract to purchase 3.5 acres adjacent to its 278,000-square-foot WestBend mixed-use development in Fort Worth’s University District. The parcel is located on University Drive, immediately south of WestBend along the Trinity River. Conceptual planning is underway to develop additional mixed-use space including ground-floor retail with either a hotel or multifamily and condo units above. A Hawthorne Suites hotel currently occupies the site.
DALLAS — INDECT USA, a provider of sensor-based parking guidance systems, has completed ultrasonic parking guidance installation at the Dallas Omni Hotel and Convention Center in downtown Dallas. The Dallas Omni Hotel is the first and only hotel in the United States to offer parking guidance. Installed as part of the $400 million Dallas Convention Center redevelopment, the parking guidance program features the installation of 347 parking sensors, as well as a network of LED signs informing drivers how many open parking spaces are available and where they can be found. The sensors are located above each parking space, offering signals to drivers that are visible from several hundred yards away of where open spaces can be found, and what type of parking is permitted in an individual space. Different colors indicate each space’s status: green for available, red for occupied, blue for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking and white for one-hour parking. The LED signs at the end of each driving aisle also indicate how many spaces, and what types of spaces, are available in each parking aisle. Additionally, the sensors provide management benefits by collecting data about lengths of stay, occupancy and usage, which will help Omni Hotels …
ROCKWALL, TEXAS — MYCON General Contractors has begun construction on a standalone Kroger Signature concept store located on an 11.3-acre tract at the southeast corner of North Goliad Street and Quail Run Road in Rockwall. The 80,000-square-foot Kroger Signature store will offer fresh food options, healthy meal solutions and traditional grocery items, as well as a six-pump Kroger Fuel Center and Kroger Pharmacy, which will have three drive-thru lanes. Site plans include loading docks, a detention pond, surface parking and landscaping. Groundbreaking was held in January, and the store opening is slated for the first quarter of 2017.
WACO, TEXAS — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $7.7 million interim loan for Brazos Village Apartments, a 144-unit affordable housing apartment community in Waco. Proceeds from the loan will be used to fund the acquisition and renovation of the property. The project operates under the Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LITHC) program and is within its extended use period requiring that 70 percent of the units be rented to tenants earning no more than 60 percent area median income (AMI) and 30 percent of the units be set aside for tenants earning no more than 50 percent AMI. This project is sponsored by Harmony Housing, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable rental housing throughout the United States. John Gilmore IV of KeyBank’s community development lending division arranged the financing.