This Week’s Houston Deal Sheet

Westpark @ 59 Office Plaza LLC purchased a 115K SF two-building office property at 6250 and 6260 Westpark in the Uptown Houston submarket.

The property, which was constructed in 1973, underwent a substantial renovation in 2016 and is nearly 100% occupied. The buildings feature on-site management, 24-hour security, an on-site deli, covered parking, skyline views, floor-to-ceiling windows and multiple conference rooms.

Newmark’s Spencer Hough and Connor Darling and Moody Rambin’s Jim Autenreith and Stephen Ghedi represented the seller, Presidium Group. The buyer represented itself.

PEOPLE

Midway appointed Lacee Jacobs and Robert Sigler to its leadership team, joining the company’s top executives in setting and implementing firmwide direction and strategy. Jacobs is the firm’s vice president of Strategic and Leasing Advisory, while Sigler is senior vice president of construction on the firm’s Investment and Development team. In addition to his appointment to the leadership team, Sigler is now the lead executive in charge of pre-construction, design and construction operations across Midway's multi-regional real estate development platform.

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Midway promoted Trevor Janecek to vice president, Investment Management. He will help lead the firm’s Investment Management team in providing company stakeholders fiduciary management for Midway’s operating portfolio of investments. Janecek joined Midway’s Investment Management team in 2015 as an associate and most recently served as a manager.

Midway also promoted Andrew McKinney to regional property manager, Property Operations. He is responsible for oversight and operations of a portion of Midway’s portfolio group of multifamily and commercial properties, including development, startup, acquisition, due diligence and property operations. Previously, McKinney served as general property manager responsible for GreenStreet, Midway’s Downtown Houston mixed-use project.

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Mary Jo Giammalva joined JPR Commercial Real Estate Inc. as senior vice president. Giammalva will partner with the firm’s president, Jennifer Raymond, to represent end users, business and property owners, investors and developers in the Houston area. Previously, Giammalva spent 14 years at Weingarten and eight years with JLM Commercial Advisors.

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Brett Chiles joined Partners Real Estate Co., the holding company of NAI Partners, Partners Capital and Partners Development, as a director. Chiles will be responsible for growing capital and sourcing debt for Partners Development’s ground-up retail and other development and investment opportunities. He will also be responsible for other aspects of development projects including legal, entity organization and project management. Previously, Chiles served as a principal at KA Investments and worked at Equus Total Return Inc. and Murphree Venture Partners.

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The Houston Office Leasing Brokers Association recognized Transwestern Managing Director Doug Little as the Landlord Broker of the Year for his office leasing efforts in 2020. Last year, Little’s team completed about 748K SF of lease transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $132M. Notable leases include TGS-Nopec Geophysical Co. at 10451 Clay Road (97.3K SF), Cadence Bank at Park Towers South (82.2K SF), Ryan LLC at Park Towers North (66.8K SF) and Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson at Loop Central III (43.1K SF).

The award is voted on by the tenant representation community in Houston and was presented to Little at the HOLBA awards ceremony on May 13.

SALES

An undisclosed 1031 exchange buyer purchased a 64.9K SF industrial building at 1314 West Sam Houston Parkway in west Houston. The single-tenant building is occupied by Critical Rental Solutions under a long-term net lease. The buyer purchased the building, paying all-cash for 97% of the asking price. Colliers International’s Todd Moore represented the seller.

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Dynamite Investments LLC purchased a 0.95-acre pad site to develop a 6.5K SF medical office building within Grand Center at Long Meadow Farms, a 58-acre mixed-use development in west Houston. Construction is expected to begin by the end of summer. NewQuest Properties’ Ashley Strickland represented the seller, CJ Development.

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An undisclosed buyer purchased 1.4 acres of improved property at 1414 Jeff Ginn Memorial Drive in Pasadena. RESOLUT RE’s Mohamed Gamal represented the seller, Gamal Enterprises.

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An undisclosed buyer purchased Three Palms Retail Center, a 26.3K SF retail property at 8030 FM 1765 in Texas City. Marcus & Millichap’s Gus Lagos, Alex Wolansky, Jacob Starr and Zuhare Rizvon had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller. Marcus & Millichap’s Riley Sharman represented the buyer.

LEASES

Acuren Inspections leased a 37.6K SF industrial service facility on 4.03 acres at 10845 Strang Road in La Porte. The property includes 1.8 acres of fenced and stabilized storage yard space. Boyd Commercial/CORFAC International’s David Munson and Conrad Bernard represented the landlord, Triten Real Estate Partners.

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Furniture retailer CB2 leased 10.1K SF within Rice Village, at 2414 University. The store is the first for the company in Houston and is slated to open in June. Transwestern’s Kim Bernick represented the tenant, while The Blue Ox Group’s Burdette Huffman represented the landlord.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Sueba USA is building a 318-unit apartment complex at 13475 Rincon Drive in the Energy Corridor. The property, named San Estrella, is on a 9-acre site and is the firm’s fourth multifamily project in the submarket. The four-story building will offer studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom plans. The property also will feature detached garages, including several with charging stations, and private storage rooms. Pre-leasing is expected to commence in summer 2022, with occupancy beginning in fall 2022. 

THIS AND THAT

Rottet Studio's founder and president, Lauren Rottet, purchased two adjacent properties totaling 1.72 acres in the Briar Hollow neighborhood, which includes a house built in 1960 by famed Houston architect Howard Barnstone. Barnstone’s clients included Houstonians John and Dominique de Menil, who funded the Rothko Chapel, which was also designed by Barnstone with Eugene Aubry and Philip Johnson.

Rottet intends to restore the property and build an adjacent office. The new building is being envisioned as a new iteration of a hybrid office and will include space for Rottet Studio’s design team and administrative staff. The remodeling of the Barnstone-designed three-story house will include a space that will serve as a showroom and accommodate furniture and accessories from the Rottet Collection.