This Week's Houston Deal Sheet
Barvin broke ground on a multifamily development in the Texas Medical Center area, showing new construction isn’t entirely on pause despite the pandemic.
The five-story, wrap-style project, which broke ground Sept. 28 and is expected to deliver in early 2022, will have 281 units at the northwest corner of Knight Road and El Paseo Street, just south of Old Spanish Trail. GFF is the architect and Oden Hughes the general contractor of the yet-unnamed community, which will offer amenities such as a poolside cabana with outdoor kitchen and lounge area, a secluded reflection area with hammocks, a dog park with dog-washing station, private conference rooms, coffee bar, bike maintenance and storage, and a fitness studio with separate yoga/flex room.
The project is driven by momentum at the Med Center and will serve employees and medical students at the upcoming TMC3 development and new Texas A&M EnMed program, Barvin said in a press release. The company said the area surrounding the Med Center has insufficient high-end apartment housing to meet the needs of the more than 106,000 people expected to work at TMC3.
“We wanted to create a cohesive and unified project that both capitalized on the demand for high-quality apartments and improved the offerings of the Medical Center campus,” Barvin CEO Eric Barvin said in a statement. “Our investment in this area is indicative of our confidence in its growth. We believe our development is poised to fill a gap in the current apartment supply.”
Barvin also owns The Daphne Apartments on El Paseo.
EXECS
The Rotary Club of Houston presented Wolff Cos. Chairman and President David Wolff with its 2020 Distinguished Citizen Award. The honor recognizes his contributions to the Houston community, including his efforts to enhance and preserve the natural beauty of land while meeting the needs of business and community development, according to a press release from Wolff Cos. Former Mayor Bill White presented Wolff the award on behalf of Mayor Sylvester Turner and declared Sept. 25 David S. Wolff Day in Houston.
Wolff, a Philadelphia native, is known for his efforts in West Houston, including pioneering development of the Energy Corridor. Since forming Wolff Cos. 50 years ago, he has developed thousands of acres into master-planned, mixed-use business parks and residential communities like Ten Oaks and Central Park. He has been a significant figure on numerous local boards and nonprofit groups, including the Houston Grand Opera, the Greater Houston Partnership, co-founding the West Houston Association, chairing METRO for six years and serving for 12 years on the Houston Parks Board. He is also a minority owner of the San Francisco Giants and owner of a 1,680-acre working cattle ranch in Independence, Texas.
“David is not just a developer, he is a visionary, with a vision for Houston, for our business, and our community,” White said. “Today, we are honoring him because of his many civic contributions. Thank you, David, for improving the quality of life of all of our citizens and thank you to the Rotary Club for honoring one of our city’s behind-the-scenes members, who has made Houston what it is today.”
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Leasa Sullivan joined Midway as regional property manager, property operations. She will oversee operations of a portion of Midway’s portfolio of multifamily and commercial development, including development, startup, acquisition, due diligence and property operations. The property operations team manages more than 3.7M SF of mixed-use, office, industrial and multifamily space and recently started handling third-party management assignments.
Sullivan has more than two decades of multifamily management experience, most recently serving as area operations manager for Cortland, and has past roles at Capstone Real Estate Services, Geneva Multi-Family Inc., Centra Asset Partners and Walden Affordable Group.
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Harry Holmes and Charlie Neuhaus joined NAI Partners’ office tenant rep group as partners. The two were most recently principals at Avison Young and have a combined 60 years of industrial experience.
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Hunington Properties’ Jonathan Aron and Jesse Hernandez were each promoted to vice president in the brokerage division. They work on the landlord and tenant sides of deals and both have been with Hunington since 2015.
SALES
Crow Holdings International purchased Weatherford Farms, a 34.3-acre property at 13223 Murphy Road in Stafford. The firm plans to build a 568K SF, three-building industrial development on the site, to be delivered in fall 2021. Cory Driskill and Travis Covington represented Crow Holdings Industrial in-house, and Colliers International’s Barkley Peschel and Jason Scholtz represented the seller. Peschel, Scholtz and colleague Walter Menuet will handle leasing for the new development.
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Cane Island Ventures LLC purchased a 1.5-acre tract at the intersection of Peek Road and Grand Parkway/TX 99 in Katy. Prime SCD’s Travis Overstreet represented the seller, Clay Road Development, and 713CRE’s Ronnie Miranda represented the buyer.
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Lama Yaqoub, an out-of-state buyer, purchased a Burger King at 7007 Gulf Freeway in a $1.9M triple-net, single-tenant deal from seller 7007 Gulf Ltd.’s Frank Liu. SVN Desert Commercial Advisors’ Rommie Mojahed represented the buyer.
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Red Sea Properties purchased a 32,500 SF industrial building at 10421 SW Plaza Drive. Henry S. Miller’s Sam Chang represented the seller, Spicy World of USA Inc. BHW Capital’s Bryan Tran represented the buyer. Spicy World of USA, a family-owned wholesale distributor of ethnic foods, is moving to a newly developed 68K SF distribution facility in Stafford.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased The Fairmont on San Felipe, a retail/multifamily mixed-use project at 6363 San Felipe St. The property, which was built in 2009, has 361 multifamily units and 41K SF of retail. Greystone National Apartment Advisors’ Jordan Emmott, Abraham Garza and Shayan Hasnain, who brokered the deal, said the asset sold below replacement cost.
LEASES
Common Desk leased 24K SF at 2500 CityWest in Houston’s Westchase District. The Texas-based coworking company will occupy part of the first and second floors of the 25-story, 578K SF Class-A office tower. This is the company’s third Houston-area location. Cushman & Wakefield’s Win Haggard Jr. and Vince Strake and Patrinely Group’s Dennis Tarro represented the landlords, Patrinely Group and USAA Real Estate.
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Aegis Chemical Solutions renewed 17K SF of office/flex space at 4560 Kendrick Plaza Drive. NAI Partners’ Jason Whittington represented the tenant, and Insite Realty Partners’ Logan Greer represented the landlord, EastGroup Properties.
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Houston-based multifamily firm Mosaic Advisors is relocating its headquarters to 6,059 SF in Regions Financial Center, 3773 Richmond Ave., in the Greenway Plaza/Upper Kirby area. Senterra Real Estate Group’s Neil Tofsky and Kevin Tofsky represented the tenant, while CBRE’s Jason Presley and Nina Seyyedin and TRC Capital Partners’ Kellie Jenks represented the landlord. A joint venture of TRC Capital Partners, Barbour Investments and Hansen Partners developed the property. Build-out of the space is in the final stages, with Senterra providing construction management services, JZ Interior Design's David Henderson serving as architect and Tellepsen as general contractor.
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WSP USA Buildings Inc. expanded and extended its lease in the Esperson Buildings at 808 Travis St. to 17,500 SF. Newmark Knight Frank’s Philip Giunta, Derek Myers and Philip Price represented the tenant. The landlord, Cameron Interests, was represented in-house.
DEVELOPMENT
The redevelopment of the Palace Bowling Lanes at 4191 Bellaire Blvd. is underway. Palace Social, a 30K SF facility with eight bowling lanes, an arcade, sports simulators, event spaces, karaoke, an e-sports lounge and a bar, is slated to open in spring 2021. It is being constructed by Texana Builders with interior design by Tramonte Design Studio in collaboration with Gin Design Group and branding by BLKBOX. Local chef Ryan Hildebrand is overseeing food and beverage offerings.
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Giorgetti, a 122-year-old Italian furnishings brand, is scheduled to open its first totally branded residential condominium project in the world this month. Giorgetti Houston offers 32 high-end condos in a seven-story mid-rise building at 2701 Steel St. in the Upper Kirby District. The project is developed and owned by Stolz Partners in collaboration with Giorgetti, designed by Mirador Group and marketed by Douglas Elliman. Everything in the building is designed with Giorgetti furniture in mind; Mirador principal Jerry Hooker designed the exterior with the Giorgetti Origami cabinet in mind, and the exterior spells out “Giorgetti” in binary code. Units range from 2,700 SF to 6,800 SF and start at $1.9M.
THIS AND THAT
Kirksey Architecture acquired Houston-based architectural design firm House+Partners Architecture & Planning LLP. The deal, which was finalized on Oct. 1, expands Kirksey’s multifamily residential, senior living and commercial office expertise and portfolios. House+Partners, which was founded in 1978, also brings along its ongoing work with five residential development projects by Hines, which are under construction and total 1.5M SF. Kirksey was founded in 1971 in Houston and opened an Austin office in 2018.
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Nan & Company Properties, a luxury residential real estate company and Christie’s International Real Estate’s Houston affiliate, launched a new division, Nan Properties Developer Services. The platform will serve as a consultant to other developers looking to build high-rise condos in Houston. Nan opened in 2014. Betty Harbourt joined the firm as executive adviser overseeing the platform.
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Hotel Alessandra was named to Condé Nast Traveler’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards List. It ranked No. 5 in Houston in the hotel category and No. 17 in Texas. The hotel is owned by Texas-based Valencia Hotel Group.
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Colliers International was retained as real estate adviser for natural gas exploration and production company Southwestern Energy. Colliers’ Charles Fertitta Jr. and Chris Nash will lead the team, which includes Carrie Prati. Southwestern Energy is headquartered in 300K SF at 10000 Energy Drive in The Woodlands.
