SAN ANTONIO — Embassy Suites Hotels has opened its newest location, the Embassy Suites San Antonio Riverwalk — Downtown at 125 E. Houston St. on the Riverwalk in central San Antonio. The full-service, all-suite property features 11,589 square feet of meeting space. It is owned by Blanco Rio, Ltd., which is a collaboration by IBC BancShares, Sam Friedman, president and CEO of Dimension Development, and Jack Guenther, a San Antonio native. It is the third Embassy Suites in the San Antonio area and the 22nd in Texas.
BRYAN — The $26 million Texas A&M Health Science Center on its Bryan campus, developed by Skanska HealthRealty, is expected to be completed in time for fall classes in August 2011. It will combine the Texas Brain and Spine Institute, academics of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and the Blinn College allied health programs within a simulated hospital. The facility will serve 540 students and ensure Blinn College meets new requirements that Texas schools double their enrollment of nurses in the next 5 years. BOKA Powell is designing the 130,000-square-foot, six-tenant clinical building.
DALLAS — HSM Equity Partners, the real estate financial equity services entity of Henry S. Miller Co., has arranged non-recourse, fixed-rate, permanent financing for two shopping centers owned by entities of the Henry S. Miller family of companies. Pepper Square and Central Forest shopping centers in Dallas each carry 10-year terms with a 5.5 percent fixed rate. HSM secured financing through Wells Fargo's New York CMBS group. Pepper Square contains 277,609 square feet of retail space and Central Forest contains 94,879 square feet of retail space. Chance Johnson of HSM arranged the retail loans.
LAKE WORTH — Star Village Commons, a 40,549-square-foot retail property located at 3980 Boat Club Rd. in Lake Worth, has sold. Jason Vitorino of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office represented the seller, Doug Archer, in his capacity as a receiver with POB Montgomery & Co. The property is 54 percent occupied with tenants such as Whataburger, State Farm Insurance, Sesame Grill and Great Clips.
MESQUITE — A former Hollywood Video store, located at 1600 Beltline Rd. in Mesquite, has sold to Springfield, Mo.-based O'Reilly Automotive, which is expanding by 150 stores nationwide this year. The 7,280-square-foot retail property sits on the corner of Beltline and Cartwright roads on a 49,702 square foot parcel of land. Jeff Brand of Brand Capital Partners represented the property's seller, Barton Investments, in the transaction. Hollywood Video's parent company, Movie Gallery, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.
COPPELL — Samsung Electronics will lease an additional 130,000 square feet at Point West VII, supplementing the 261,025 square feet it leased in the building in late 2009. Build-out of the space is underway. Located at 240 Dividend Dr. in Coppell, Point West VII is Samsung Mobile's largest cell phone distribution facility in the U.S. Dave Anderson and Pat O'Keefe of CB Richard Ellis represented Samsung, while Duke Realty's Randy Wood represented Duke, the landlord.
DALLAS — One McKinney Plaza, a 15-story, 256,543-square-foot office building at 3232 McKinney Ave. in uptown Dallas, has earned its LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The owner, Gaedeke Group, has spent 1 year and $5 million in renovating the office building. The renovations included the replacement of 42 toilets with a high-efficiency design, decreasing the gallons per flush by 40 percent. The LEED-EB Operations & Maintenance rating system focuses on a building's physical systems and how it's occupied and operated by its managers.
HOUSTON — Institutional Property Advisors' (IPA) Balthrope Group has brokered the sale of AMLI City Vista, a 385,358-square-foot, mid-rise, luxury apartment complex located one mile west of downtown Houston. Koontz McCombs sold the multifamily property to AMLI Residential for an undisclosed price. Will Balthrope and Ryan Epstein of IPA's Balthrope Group were involved in the transaction.
DALLAS — The Neiman Marcus Group has expanded and extended its distribution lease in Pinnacle Park from 292,000 to 470,250 square feet of industrial space at 4121 Pinnacle Point Dr. in Dallas. The space will be utilized for Neiman Marcus' Last Call division. Corbin Crews of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, TR Pinnacle Corp., in the 10-year lease.
KELLER — Stephen Whitehead of NorthMarq Capital's Dallas office has arranged permanent financing of $10.95 million for Grand Estates at Keller, a 160-unit multifamily property located at 500 N. Tarrant Pkwy in Keller. Constructed in 2006, the property was 96 percent occupied at the time of financing, which was based on a 10-year term with a 30-year amortization schedule. Financing was arranged for the borrower through NorthMarq's affiliate AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, a Fannie Mae DUS lender.