SAN ANTONIO — Architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli will design the Frost Tower, Frost Bank’s new headquarters and San Antonio’s first new downtown office tower in three decades. The architecture firm, based out of New Haven, Conn., will orchestrate the design of the 400,000-square-foot office tower. Fred Clarke and Bill Butler will lead the project. Pelli Clarke Pelli has designed and developed towers including the World Financial Center in New York and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Texas-based KDC will partner with Weston Urban to serve as the development team for the tower project. Alamo Architects will serve as the local consulting architects. Construction on the project is slated to begin next fall and will be completed in 2018 or 2019.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Trammell Crow Company (TCC) has been appointed as the developer for the construction of a 57,600-square-foot, Class A build-to-suit industrial building. The project, Expo 12, will be Excel Filters’ new satellite manufacturing facility in Expo Business Park, a new industrial park located in Southeast Austin. TCC and Clarion Partners recently sold the 6.8-acre site for Expo 12 to a private investment company, who is leasing the building to Excel Filters. Construction on the project has commenced and will deliver in May 2016. Excel Filters will expand its operations from Los Angeles into Austin. Upon completion of the new building, Excel will staff the facility with existing personnel and new local hires. Expo 12, located in the four-building second phase of Expo Business Park, will include 28-foot clear heights, 13 dock-high doors and truck courts. Expo Business Park spans 37 acres and is located at 6231 E. Stassney Lane in the newly established Triple Freeport Zone. Mark Emerick, John Barksdale, Ace Schlameus and Darryl Dadon with CBRE’s Austin office represented both TCC and Excel Filters in the deal.
HOUSTON — Three new retailers have signed on at Caldwell Cos.’ mixed-use development, The Boardwalk at Towne Lake. Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co., a coffee shop and bakery, World of Beer, a tavern with a craft beer focus, and Massage Heights, a massage and skin therapy provider, are the latest tenants to sign leases at the Northwest Houston project. The Boardwalk at Towne Lake offers restaurant, retail and recreational spaces accessible by walking, driving and boating. The three new retailers join Texas Children’s Pediatrics, Copper Creek Orthodontics and restaurants Jaxton’s and Taisho at the site.
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — Realty Capital Management has sold a pad site located off Texan Trail to Norman Construction. The construction firm will be relocating its corporate offices from Coppell to a new location just north of Dallas Road on Texan Trail in Grapevine. Norman Construction has been in business since 1997 and is a full-service commercial contracting company specializing in multifamily rehab and construction. In addition, Norman offers capital improvements, fire remediation services and deferred maintenance needs. Mark Boone of Realty Capital Management represented the landlord and tenant in the lease transaction.
CHICAGO — Angelic Real Estate and CGA Capital have completed a $21.5 million financing for portions of the new Presence St. Joseph Ambulatory Care Center in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The new facility is currently being built by Milwaukee-based Hammes Co. Upon its completion this fall, the facility will house additional Presence St. Joseph operations, other medical and related tenants, and parking. New York City-based Angelic Real Estate is an investment banking and brokerage firm with more than $6 billion in experience nationally and internationally. CGA Capital is a source for real estate net lease and credit-based financing nationwide.
ST. LOUIS — Dominium, a Minneapolis-based owner, developer and manager of apartment communities, has opened leasing for Arcade Apartments, which is currently under renovation in downtown St. Louis. Leasing is available to the general public for both artist and market-rate suites in the landmark property, with expected move-in dates to begin in early December. The property features 80 market-rate luxury apartments, as well as apartment suites for artists who meet certain income and other requirements. Arcade Apartments will feature more than 11,000 square feet of artist studio spaces, including a performance studio; painting, drawing and photography studios; music practice rooms; sound attenuated music and multi-media studios; and a flex studio with a pottery kiln. Additional on-site residential amenities include fitness centers, indoor bike storage, controlled entry access, rooftop indoor clubroom and terrace, and a theater. Monthly rates range from $563 for working artist apartments to nearly $3,000 per month for two-level, upper-end units.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. has broken ground on its 200,000-square-foot facility in Springfield. Situated on 40 acres, the $60 million facility will be used to manufacture 284 subway cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). MBTA awarded the China-based company a $566 million contract to supply care for Boston’s Red and Orange subway. The company purchased the former Westinghouse-owned land for $12 million. China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. was recently formed through a merger between China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp. and the China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. The company plans to begin production next year and deliver its first cars in 2018.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — GK Development Inc.’s Ridgmar Mall is set to open five new stores and complete renovations on existing retail space. Renovations to the 1.27 million-square-foot mall include the expansion of Journeys, a specialty footwear store, to 1,890 square feet with a fresh design and new color palette; the expansion of Zale’s to 2,500 square feet with renovations including new flooring and merchandise displays; remodeling at the mall’s Buckle location, including a new store front and color scheme; and a renovation of Rave Ridgmar 13 + Xtreme by Cinemark Theaters Inc. to include plush oversized recliners, enhanced concessions and reserved seating. J.C. Penney has also remodeled and rebranded its hair salon as The Salon by InStyle. New retailers set to open at Ridgmar include Sweetness Sweets, Luna’s Candy Land Imports, Texas Canyon, Kokitos and Michelle’s Furniture.
JEFFERSONVILLE, IND. — GBT Realty Corp. has partnered with The Koetter Group to develop a $35 million regional retail center within Jeffersonville Town Center, a master-planned, mixed-use development in Jeffersonville in far southern Indiana. The companies are under contract to purchase 24.7 acres located immediately across from the Phase I Marketplace at Jeffersonville Town Center. The 240,000-square-foot shopping destination will feature two anchor tenants of 55,000 and 63,000 square feet; two junior anchor tenants of 28,000 and 22,000 square feet; and 30,000 square feet of small-shop space. Additionally, two buildings along Town Center Boulevard will feature 25,000 square feet of small-shop space for local and regional retail, dining and service provides. Site work is expected to begin immediately upon land acquisition, which is expected to close in December. The development is slated to open in the spring of 2017.
INDEPENDENCE, OHIO — The City of Independence has approved a series of area development plans and selected Cleveland, Ohio-based Fairmount Properties LLC as a development partner. The city, located about 12 miles south of Cleveland, plans to develop and redevelop various city-owned property in downtown Independence, including the former Independence Middle School, and a 33-acre site in the Northwest Quadrant of Rockside Road. The overall plan focuses on bringing much-needed residential, commercial and public amenities to the community, while the initial scope of the development planning will concentrate on adding new for-sale residential choices to the downtown market. Additionally, a complementary neighborhood retail component is included in the initial planning, which will expand housing options for young professionals, empty nesters and downsizers. The vision for the 33-acre, city-owned property is a mixed-use district with a corporate focus that also incorporates ancillary retail, restaurant, entertainment and residential uses within a compact and walkable street pattern. The city and Fairmount will immediately begin the pre-development process for the projects. The anticipated completion for the initial phases of development is scheduled for 2017.