AUSTIN, TEXAS — Lowe Enterprises and McShane Development Co. have arranged the lease of 23,200 square feet of industrial space to Rasa Floors & Carpet Cleaning, located at Tuscany Center in Austin. The 72,000-square-foot warehouse building, known as Tuscany Center 7, features 24-foot ceilings, 40-by-40 foot bays, six exterior truck docks, one drive-in door, gas heating and ESFR sprinkler system. Rasa plans to relocate to the building in November. TAG International will be the architect for the tenant build-out. Scott Womack of Jackson & Cooksey represented Rasa Floors, and Brett Arabie and Mike Tipps of Oxford Commercial represented Lowe and McShane in the lease transaction.
Texas
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — NAI Cravey Real Estate Services has arranged a 25,000-square-foot retail lease of the former Graham Central Station building to E.C. Barton Co. E.C. Barton will be expanding and relocating its Surplus Warehouse store to the 35,000-square-foot building. The company plans to move in November. Lynann Pinkham of NAI Cravey represented the E.C. Barton Co., and Ross Partlow represented the building owner in the lease transaction.
While the national economy and commercial real estate in general look to have a tough year ahead of them, Houston and multifamily real estate have a little more room for comfort, although not enough for complacency. Houston is projected by some to have the strongest job growth in the United States for 2009, and multifamily is the only commercial property class to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Houston benefits from the diversity of its economy. Houston has also greatly benefited by one sector in particular, oil and gas, which saw its greatest rally in history just as the financial sector saw its darkest days. Houston continues to maintain an unemployment rate almost 3 percent below the national average and is ranked 18 of 392 U.S. MSAs by Moody’s Economy.com for employment growth between now and 2013. Unlike other commercial real estate (CRE) asset classes, multifamily has been more successful fighting off the financial crisis that shut down the CMBS market and essentially froze CRE transactions across the country. Steve Duplantis, senior managing director of CBRE in Houston, is only aware of one investment grade retail transaction and one investment grade office transaction in the past year. So far this year …
SAN ANTONIO — Tesoro Corp. has relocated its San Antonio headquarters, which is now located at 19100 Ridgewood Parkway. The 610.000-square-foot complex is expected to earn the U.S Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. This project is the third and largest in San Antonio to be LEED certified. Tesoro Corp. outgrew its 140,000-square-foot, four-building facility, also located in San Antonio at U.S. Highway 251 and Jones Maltsberger Rd. Whataburger has now leased that property. Tesoro is consolidating four of its area offices in the new location.
DALLAS — Centennial Real Estate Co., in partnership with Westmount Realty Capital, has signed a new anchor tenant as part of its renovation of the 145,000-square-foot Spring Creek Crossing in Dallas/Fort Worth. The Asian-concept grocery chain 99 Ranch Market has signed a 60,000-square-foot lease and will be the anchor store for the project. John Zikos and Bryan Cornelius of Venture Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord in lease negotiations.
KATY, TEXAS — Stan Johnson Co. has completed the sale of a ground lease for a freestanding AutoZone location to an individual investor for an undisclosed price. The property is located on 0.77 acres at the corner of Katy Ft. Bend and Franz roads in Katy. Hunter Jaggard and Daniel Herrold of Stan Johnson Co.’s Houston office represented the seller, Gulf Coast Commercial Group. Geoff Hannan of Capital Real Estate Investments represented the buyer, which was participating in a 1031 exchange.
HOUSTON — Clinton Investments has broken ground for a new Holiday Inn, located in Houston’s Westway Park mixed-use development. The five-story hotel will contain 122 rooms. It is the second hotel in the state to be built to Holiday Inn’s new design concept, a contemporary design that caters to the Baby Boomer demographic. The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant, a business center, a fitness center, meeting facilities, a pool and an activity area. The hotel is situated adjacent to Carolyn Wolff Park, a 3-acre urban arboretum. Construction of the hotel is scheduled for a spring 2010 completion. Westway Park is a 150-acre development located at the intersection of Sam Houston Tollway and Clay Road. It is owned by Wolff Companies.
HOUSTON — Rice University has received $11.1 million in federal stimulus funding for the Brockman Hall of Physics, a new research facility that is currently under construction at the school’s Houston campus. The building will total 110,000 square feet, and it will provide space for research and education in fundamental and applied physics. Faculty from the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering will occupy the facility, which is slated for a spring 2011 completion and will be applying for LEED-Silver certification. The funding was awarded by the National Institute of Standards & Technology. Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake Associates has serving as project architect, with Gilbane Building Co. providing general contracting services.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — The J. Beard Real Estate Company has brokered the lease of the former Crossroads Baptist Church, a 40,170-square-foot church complex located at 6565 Research Forest Dr. in The Woodlands. The lessee, Celebration Church, has re-opened the church and held its dedication ceremony earlier this month. Its lease carries a purchase option for the complex. Karyn Stephens of J. Beard represented the lessor, Crossroads Baptist Church.
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Corpus Christi-based NAI Cravey Real Estate Services has brokered the sale of a 27,000-square-foot outparcel to Jack In The Box. The site is located at 4737 Saratoga Blvd. in Corpus Christi; it is shadow-anchored by a former H-E-B Grocery store that has been recently leased to a charter school. Construction for the restaurant has commenced and completion is expected later this year. NAI’s Lynann Pinkham and Matthew Cravey represented the seller, Saratoga Village Partners, in the land transaction