This Week’s Houston Deal Sheet

Dunavant Distribution Group announced plans to expand into a new 784K SF industrial building in the Bay Area Business Park in Pasadena.

The expansion brings the logistics and supply chain company’s presence to more than 1M SF within the business park at 10629 Red Bluff Road. The 784K SF industrial space is one of three buildings in Phase 3 of the park expansion, and the completion of that phase makes Bay Area Business Park the largest single-owner industrial business park in Houston, according to Colliers International.

Bay Area Business Park is in the East-Southeast Far industrial submarket, Houston's largest industrial submarket, with close to 79M SF of industrial inventory. The submarket is located near Port Houston and Houston's Ship Channel, making the submarket logistically desirable for distribution space.

Colliers International’s John Nicholson represented the tenant, while Stream Realty Partners’ Justin Robinson and Jeff Pate represented the landlord, PEPF Red Bluff.

PEOPLE

Casey Watts Morgan joined the Houston Apartment Association as CEO, becoming the first woman to lead the association. Morgan replaces Jeff Hall, who led the association for 17 years. Prior to joining HAA, Morgan served as executive vice president and CEO of the Greater Houston Builders Association, the fourth-largest homebuilders organization in the country. Morgan will administer the business of HAA and related entities, as well as play a strategic role in policy, programming, member value, committee work, and vision and planning.

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Howard Hughes Corp. interim CEO David O’Reilly's title has become permanent, while L. Jay Cross has joined the firm as its new president. O’Reilly joined Howard Hughes Corp. in 2016 as chief financial officer and was promoted to interim CEO in June. He will continue as CFO until a successor is found.

Cross previously served as president of Related Hudson Yards in New York City and has also served as president of the New York Jets and was the driving force behind the development of MetLife Stadium, the team’s joint venture with the New York Giants.

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Jason Hauck joined Houston-based Morgan Group as regional development partner. Hauck will be responsible for overseeing Morgan’s growth in the Texas market, including opening a new regional office in Austin. Prior to Morgan, Hauck was development director of central Texas for Trinsic Residential Group, where he developed more than 7,000 multifamily units in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.

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Jeff Schweitzer joined Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate as asset manager for nearly 2M SF of commercial office space across the company’s portfolio. Schweitzer will oversee the real estate investment management firm’s nine Texas assets, seven in Houston and two in San Antonio. Prior to the role, Schweitzer was most recently a commercial mortgage-backed securities special servicing asset manager for KeyBank in Dallas, where he was responsible for regional malls and office assets totaling over 3M SF. He has also previously worked for C-III Capital Partners in Irving and Stream Realty Partners.

SALES

Triten Real Estate Partners purchased 7600 East Sam Houston, a 58.7K SF industrial service facility in northeast Houston, in an off-market acquisition. The firm purchased the building as part of a long-term sale-leaseback deal with Polar Service Centers, which uses the location as its corporate headquarters. The facility has corporate offices and a 23-door maintenance facility, along with 10 acres of outdoor parking and storage. Triten’s Will Hedges and Charles Lintakoon managed the transaction for both the landlord and the buyer.

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Mission Cos. purchased Westchase Commons, a three-building office/flex industrial complex totaling 149.9K SF in Westchase. The property occupies nearly 14 acres at 3100-3120 Hayes Road and was completed in 2001. The property is 77.2% leased to an investment-grade tenant roster. JLL Capital markets represented the unnamed seller and procured the buyer. JLL also worked on behalf of Mission Cos. to secure the acquisition loan through Woodforest National Bank. The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Kevin McConn and Trent Agnew. JLL’s financing team was led by John Ream and Michael Johnson.

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Merit Hill Capital purchased Bargain Storage Portfolio, a two-property self-storage portfolio in southwest Houston. The two assets contain a total of 69.8K SF and 454 units and are located about a half-mile from each other on a combined 3.84 acres. There are 18 metal-framed, single-story buildings, as well as 68 portable units that were delivered in 2019. The LeClaire-Schlosser Group of Marcus & Millichap had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, an Oregon-based LLC. Marcus & Millichap’s Dave Knobler and Charles LeClaire also secured the buyer.

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Indus Management purchased Sharpstown Garden Apartments, a 396-unit workforce housing property in southwest Houston. The property includes 334.2K SF of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at 7575 Bissonnet St. Ownership had managed the property since 1995 and spent $890K in renovations over the last four years. Indus Communities’ Manu Gupta represented the buyer, while JLL Capital Markets’ Chris Young and Joey Rippel represented the seller, Pryzant Management.

LEASES

Houston-based biotech startup Volumetric signed an 11.2K SF lease at the East End Maker Hub. The firm specializes in 3D-printed human tissues and organs, and the move into the space will allow the company to double its operations. The firm will occupy space within Phase 1 of the 21-acre campus in the East End District. No tenant representative was involved, and East End Maker Hub’s Mike Pittman represented the landlord.

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Étoile Academy, a tuition-free public charter school, expanded its footprint at 6648 Hornwood Drive in southwest Houston to 33.7K SF. The original lease, executed in 2018, was for 13.8K SF, and the school previously expanded in October by adding 13.2K SF. Savills’ Lesa Nickelson represented the tenant. The landlord is Ardenwood Group.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Hangzhou, China-based Blossom Holding Group will open its newest hotel project, The Blossom Hotel Houston, in April 2021. The 16-story, 267-room hotel is located at 7118 Bertner Ave. in the Texas Medical Center and will have over 400K SF of amenities, including three restaurants, retail shopping, a lobby library, outdoor pool deck, fitness center, karaoke room, and meeting and events spaces.

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Howard Hughes Corp. will officially open The Lane at Waterway multifamily development in The Woodlands by mid-December. The seven-story boutique development on 1.67 acres has 179.3K SF and will offer 163 new residences with one-, two- and three-bedroom plans, as well as townhomes with direct street access. The property is at the southeast intersection of Six Pines Drive and Timberloch Place in The Woodlands Town Center and is adjacent to two other Howard Hughes Corp. multifamily communities: The Millennium Six Pines and The Millennium Waterway.

THIS AND THAT

Stream Realty Partners has been awarded the leasing assignment for Riverway Houston, two Class-A office properties totaling 910K SF. The properties are owned by Unilev Management and are located near the southeast corner of Woodway Drive and South Post Oak Lane in the Uptown area. Riverway Houston, which consists of One Riverway and Three Riverway, underwent a $35M renovation program that was completed in 2019. Stream’s Brad Fricks, Craig McKenna and Mathew Volz will be responsible for the leasing efforts on behalf of Unilev Management.