This Week's Houston Deal Sheet

Linde Engineering signed an expanded lease for 120.5K SF at Sierra Pines I in The Woodlands following its merger with Praxair to form the world’s largest supplier of gases.

Linde Engineering occupies the second and third floors of Sierra Pines I, a six-story, Class-A office building at 1585 Sawdust Road.

The new lease also marks the largest office lease in The Woodlands within the last 12 months, according to CBRE, which found that in 2020, Houston was home to four of the largest office leases in the U.S., accounting for more than 1.8M SF.

CBRE’s Kevin Saxe and Jon Lee represented the tenant in the lease negotiations, while Stream Realty Partners’ Brad Fricks represented the landlord, VEREIT.

PEOPLE

Correne Loeffler joined The Howard Hughes Corp. as chief financial officer, effective April 19. Loeffler succeeds David O'Reilly as the company's CFO, a position that he has held since joining Howard Hughes Corp. in 2016 and has continued to hold on an interim basis since being appointed CEO in December 2020.

Prior to joining Howard Hughes Corp., Loeffler was CFO at Whiting Petroleum Corp., where she managed the company's finance, accounting and corporate planning organizations, as well as helping restructure $2.4B of unsecured debt. Loeffler has held positions at Callon Petroleum Co., J.P. Morgan Securities, Bank of America and Accenture.

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Zachary Taylor joined Colliers International as senior vice president within its industrial services advisers team. Taylor will work closely with John Nicholson in the Logistics and Transportation Solutions Group at Colliers. Taylor spent six years at Moody Rambin as a commercial real estate adviser. He has also worked for Avison Young.

SALES

CDC Houston, a subsidiary of Coventry Development Corp., has acquired The Mark at CityPlace Springwoods Village. The location for the Class-A, 286-unit multifamily property was originally purchased by Martin Fein Interests in 2014, and the developer debuted the building in late 2017. A subsidiary of Martin Fein Interests will be a partner in the property and continue to provide property management services. The Mark is one of three apartment communities that Martin Fein Interests has developed at Springwoods Village.

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An unnamed buyer purchased Pinemont Professional Center, a 19.7K SF office property at 6110 Pinemont Drive in northwest Houston. Marcus & Millichap’s Michael Lea had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor.

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An undisclosed buyer purchased 2.24 acres at the corner of I-45 and Rankin Road in north Houston. Resolut RE’s Mohamed Gamal represented the seller, Gamal Enterprises Inc.

LEASES

Crunch Fitness leased 30.2K SF in First Colony Commons at 1535 Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land. The anchor location was formerly a Michaels, and doors for the gym are expected to open on Oct. 1. The location is the first of eight planned locations for Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. NewQuest Properties’ Neal Thomson represented the tenant, while Wulfe & Co.’s Kristen Barker represented the landlord, TPP 306 First Colony LLC.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Houston-based Gulf Coast Commercial Group is finalizing development plans for Magnolia Village, a 60-acre mixed-use project at FM 1488 and Spur 149 in the Magnolia area. Phase 1 of the project will encompass 36 acres and incorporate both retail and office elements, as well as 300 multifamily units. That phase is slated for completion in fall 2022.

Gulf Coast Commercial Group is purchasing the property from Houston-based Parkside Capital. 

Magnolia Village will be located directly across Spur 149 from Stratus Properties’ proposed 120-acre Magnolia Place mixed-use development, which will have an H-E-B, multifamily, single-family and townhomes, along with a community gathering space.

While Gulf Coast Commercial Group will oversee leasing of the big-box and office spaces within Magnolia Village, the firm has tapped Ironbridge Realty Partners’ Court Richardson and Thomas Holdsworth to market the multi-tenant retail and restaurant spaces fronting FM 1488 and Spur 149.

FINANCING

Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged $3.7M in financing for the acquisition of a 50-unit multifamily asset in Houston. The 10-year loan featured a 3.48% fixed interest rate, three years of interest-only and stepdown prepayment structure. The financing was negotiated on behalf of the borrower by Marcus & Millichap’s Jamie Safier.

THIS AND THAT

The YMCA of Greater Houston, in partnership with Avenue, has opened YMCA Children’s Academy at Avenue, a new early childhood education facility at Avenue Center in Houston’s Near Northside neighborhood. With enrollment for infant care now open, the center will be able to accommodate up to 70 children ranging from 6 weeks to 5 years old.

Located at 3517 Irvington Blvd., Avenue Center features approximately 30.5K SF of community programming space. In addition to the academy, the community hub will offer Greater Northside residents access to a wide variety of programs and services, including a new Legacy Community Health Clinic, homebuyer education and counseling, post-purchase and foreclosure prevention counseling, financial education through the BBVA Center for Financial Education, and space for community meetings and training classes.

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WeWork has engaged Transwestern Real Estate Services to support leasing efforts for its 298.8K SF of office space in four separate buildings in the Downtown Houston, Galleria and The Woodlands submarkets. The firm’s Agency Leasing team will help WeWork target tenants with space needs ranging from 1K SF to 60K SF.

WeWork offers up to 50K SF of contiguous space in Houston and has immediate availability at the following properties: Downtown’s 609 Main and The Jones Building at 708 Main, Galleria Office Tower I at 2700 Post Oak Blvd., and 1725 Hughes Landing in The Woodlands.

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Real estate investment lender Renovo Financial has opened new offices in Houston and San Antonio. Jon Shipley, who opened the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex office in May 2020, is leading Renovo’s Texas expansion. He has tapped two local experts, Andrew Faught and Jesse Ramirez, to head the Houston and San Antonio offices, respectively.

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GenWealth Capital Group selected Allied Orion Group to manage Sutter Ranch Apartments, a 288-unit apartment community located in northwest Houston. Situated at 10445 Greens Crossing Blvd. in the Fallbrook area of northwest Houston, Sutter Ranch offers one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom floor plans ranging from 645 SF to 1,300K SF.