This Week’s Houston Deal Sheet
Two tenants have leased a cumulative 273.4K SF of industrial space at the 341.7K SF, Class-A Interwood Distribution Center in north Houston, bringing the property to 80% occupancy less than five months after its completion.
GCP Paper USA Inc. signed a full-building lease at the 235.9K SF Building 2 for its first U.S. headquarters, while Tailift Material Handling USA, a subsidiary of Toyota, is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Southern California and will occupy 37.5K SF in Building 1.
Interwood Distribution Center is a joint venture between Holt Lunsford Commercial Investments and GID Real Estate Investments. Located at the northeast corner of John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Interwood South Parkway, the property is about a mile south of George Bush Intercontinental Airport and was completed in December.
The site has 68.4K SF of remaining leasable space in Building 1, featuring spec office, LED lights, warehouse space and the ability to be divided down to 14.1K SF.
Holt Lunsford Commercial Investments’ Craig Bean and John Kruse represented the landlord, while Centermark Commercial Real Estate’s Eric Hughes represented GCP Paper USA Inc.
PEOPLE
Cody Persyn joined Colliers International’s Houston retail team as senior vice president, where he will specialize in multi-market corporate dispositions of retail buildings and excess land. Previously, Persyn was a principal at SRS Real Estate Partners, focusing on the acquisition and disposition of retail properties, site selection and retail tenant representation. Before that, Persyn worked for CBRE as a vice president.
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Drew Evans joined The Meritex Co. as director of acquisitions for the Texas markets. Evans will source, underwrite, negotiate, verify and close on targeted acquisition and development opportunities in Texas, particularly in the Dallas and Houston areas. He will also manage the sales process of properties identified for disposition. Previously, Evans spent almost a decade working with the Covington Group Inc. in Dallas.
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NAIOP Houston held its 33rd Annual Broker of the Year awards ceremony on May 25, honoring industry performers with their Broker of the Year, Rising Star and Deal of the Year awards in both the office and industrial sectors.
NAIOP Houston's 2020 Office Broker of the Year was awarded to Ronnie Deyo, JLL’s executive vice president/international director with over 30 years of experience. Deyo also won NAIOP’s Deal of the Year in 2017 and 2018.
NAIOP Houston's 2020 Industrial Broker of the Year was awarded to Stephen Schneidau, executive director with Cushman & Wakefield with more than 20 years of experience in tenant and landlord representation and asset disposition and development. He specializes in the northwest and north Houston submarkets.
NAIOP Houston's 2020 Office Rising Star was awarded to Rich Claussen, who works for Cushman & Wakefield representing tenants and their office space requirements including new leases, renewals and extensions.
NAIOP Houston's 2020 Industrial Rising Star was awarded to Wesley Williams with Boyd Commercial. Over the past 24 months, he has executed deals as the sole Boyd commercial broker. Williams also teamed up with five different Boyd brokers on 19 deals.
The Office Deal of the Year was awarded to Jon Lee, Craig Beyer, Andrew Zeplain and Clair Douthit with CBRE. The team secured a lease for Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP as the anchor tenant for a 28-story, 375K SF Class-A office building near Downtown Houston, where it will occupy 32% of the building.
The Industrial Deal of the Year was awarded to Stephen Schneidau, Jim Foreman, Beau Kaleel, Allison Bergmann, Michael Foreman and Brooke Forrest with Cushman & Wakefield. The team sourced a 93-acre property in Richmond that was already under contract to a developer. The team was able to negotiate an assignment of the land purchase contract to another developer to facilitate the construction of an 850K SF facility for Amazon.
SALES
A private local investor purchased Riverstone Plaza, a 28K SF, Class-A, 98% leased neighborhood retail center at 4821 LJ Parkway in Sugar Land. The property sits on a 3.48-acre tract, directly across the street from a Kroger-anchored center. Ping Management LLC’s Bob Yuanjie represented the buyer, while NewQuest Properties’ Marc Peeler represented the developer and seller, LJ Parkway LLC.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased 3815 Hollister St., a 30.2K SF industrial property in northwest Houston. NAI Partners’ Michael Keegan and Andrew Laycock arranged the transaction.
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ED Produce purchased 1302 Boyles St., an 11.9K SF industrial property in east Houston. NAI Partners’ Michael Keegan and Andrew Laycock arranged the transaction.
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U.S. Living purchased 8725 Meadowcroft Drive, a 20.9K SF industrial property in west Houston. The buyer is a subsidiary of Sade Capital, which specializes in the acquisition, development and management of multifamily assets. Bridge Commercial’s Hunter Johnston represented the buyer, while NAI Partners’ Michael Keegan and Andrew Laycock represented the seller.
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Brennan Investment Group purchased a 123.8K SF portfolio consisting of seven Class-A industrial buildings in Houston's northwest, southeast and north submarkets. All but one asset are in business parks, and the properties have access to major highways.
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Lēva Living LP purchased 16 acres on the east side of West Lake Houston Parkway in Humble for the development of a 160-unit single-family, build-for-rent community. This will be Lēva Living’s first Houston development. Construction is slated to begin immediately. Orr Commercial’s Ryan Campbell Anderson represented the buyer, while Avison Young’s Tommy LeBlanc and John-Michael Kamel represented the sellers, two local private individuals.
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A private buyer group purchased Comfort Inn & Suites IAH Bush Airport East, a 61-room hospitality property at 7014 Will Clayton Parkway in Humble. Marcus & Millichap’s Andrew Frosch, Louis Dan, Chris Gomes and Allan Miller marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor, and represented the buyer.
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Mainna Investments LP purchased 6.24 acres at Sugar Land Business Park, located on South Dairy Ashford Road in Sugar Land. Transwestern Industrial Group’s John Ferruzzo and Nick Peterson represented the buyer.
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Porter Powers purchased 77.5K SF of industrial space at 12306 and 12310 Shiloh Church Road in northwest Houston. Transwestern Industrial Group’s John Ferruzzo and Nick Peterson represented the buyer.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased 20432 Westfield Commerce Drive, a 21.8K SF building on 1.31 acres at Clay Road Commerce Park in Katy. M Kidd Properties’ Mark Kidd Sr. and Mark Kidd Jr. represented the buyer, while InSite Realty Partners’ Steve Hazel and John Stavinoha represented the seller, Westfield Commerce Center LLC.
LEASES
Grubbs Automotive signed a 20-year, 31.9K SF ground lease at 7620 Washington Ave. Grubbs plans to convert the existing 12.6K SF showroom and 19.3K SF warehouse building into a new Volvo automotive dealership. Transwestern’s Jeff Peden and Scott Miller, in concert with Henry S. Miller’s Bill Bledsoe in Dallas, represented the tenant, while Levcor’s John Hoag represented the landlord, Levcor.
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Banta Corp. renewed and expanded its lease for 201.6K SF at West by Northwest, located at 6315 West by Northwest Blvd. in northwest Houston. Transwestern Industrial Group’s Brian Gammill and Darryl Noon represented the landlord.
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Foxconn Assembly leased 200.2K SF at the Sam Houston Distribution Center, located at 9625 Fallbrook Pines in northwest Houston. Transwestern Industrial Group’s Brian Gammill, Darryl Noon, Jude Filippone and Carter Thurmond represented the landlord.
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Freeway Logistics leased 97.4K SF at the Sam Houston Distribution Center at 8828 Taub Road in northwest Houston. Transwestern Industrial Group’s Brian Gammill, Darryl Noon, Jude Filippone and Carter Thurmond represented the landlord.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Houston-based investment and development company Levey Group and ANICO Eagle, a member of American National Group Inc., have established a joint venture partnership to develop The Business Center at Five Corners, a 542.1K SF Class-A, five-building project along Beltway 8 in the southwest Houston industrial submarket.
Located on a 44-acre site inside Beltway 8 between Post Oak Road and Hiram Clarke, the five buildings can cater to single and multi-tenant configurations. Burton Construction, the general contractor for the project, has begun site preparation with completion expected in the first quarter of 2022.
The front-load, cross-dock and rear-load buildings will range from 68.3K SF to 138.2K SF, and they will offer ceiling clear heights from 28 feet to 32 feet. There will also be a truck court and 595 surface parking spaces. CBRE’s Joseph Smith and Nathan Wayne are managing leasing activities for The Business Center at Five Corners.
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Tucson-based Watermark Retirement Communities and Houston-based Hines announced The Watermark at Houston Heights, a 222-unit, seven-story senior living community in the Greater Heights neighborhood between T.C. Jester Boulevard and Durham Drive/Shepherd Drive.
The Watermark at Houston Heights will offer senior living, assisted living and memory care options, with 24-hour concierge services, amenities and activities. Slated for completion in January, the community is part of Watermark’s newly launched Élan Collection. It will be the first Élan Collection property in Texas; others are in Napa, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Tucson.
Munoz + Albin Architecture and Planning is the design architect, Looney & Associates is the interior designer of common spaces, TBG Landscape Architects is the landscape architect and Harvey Builders is the general contractor.
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M-M Properties and CBRE have completed a $15M interior renovation project at Marathon Oil Tower, located at 5555 San Felipe. The 1.2M SF, Class-A office building is in Houston’s West Loop/Galleria submarket.
Upgrades include three full floors of curated amenities, including a redesigned lobby lounge, a food hall on the first floor of the building, a full-service fitness center and a planned free-standing restaurant space that will be located on the east lawn of the building.
The redesign and renovations to the building were done by Page. The building already maintains a LEED Gold certification, and ownership is pursuing the International WELL Building Institute Health Safety-Rating.
CBRE’s John Spafford, Elliott Hirshfeld and Madeline Gregory are the exclusive office leasing representatives for 5555 San Felipe. CBRE’s Bruce Wallace and Radkey Jolink are leasing the restaurant space.
FINANCING
JLL Capital Markets closed the sale and arranged a $21.3M financing for The Shores at Clear Lake, a 100-unit senior living community in Clear Lake. The Shores at Clear Lake is situated on about 8 acres totaling nearly 90K SF, offering 66 assisted living and 34 memory care units. The community opened in late 2018 and had reached 92% occupancy by September 2020.
JLL worked on behalf of the seller, Meridian Realty Advisors, to complete the sale to the buyer, Chicago Pacific Founders. JLL also represented the buyer to secure the 10-year, floating-rate loan through Freddie Mac. The loan will be serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital LLC, a Freddie Mac Optigo lender.
The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Charley Bissell and Brian Carlton. Financing was led by JLL’s Allison Holland.
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Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged a $5.5M loan for the refinancing of an 83K SF multi-tenant retail center. The loan features a 3.875% interest rate fixed for five years. It has a flexible prepayment structure with no penalties after the fifth year and provided a return of equity to the borrower. The financing was negotiated on behalf of the borrower by Marcus & Millichap’s Jamie Safier.
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Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged financing for two 30-unit multifamily properties. The 10-year loans feature 3.64% and 3.48% fixed interest rates and three years of interest only. The financings were negotiated on behalf of the borrower by Marcus & Millichap’s Brandon Brown.
THIS AND THAT
Griffin Partners has been selected to provide development management services for Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of Collins Aerospace. The firm is building a 115K SF building on 8.3 acres to be used as a manufacturing and office facility and will include a startup accelerator within the Houston Spaceport.
The facility, located on the south quadrant of the Ellington Airport, will provide 50K SF of corporate office space, and an additional 10K SF will be used as an accelerator space for entrepreneurs and businesses to collaborate in.
Powers Brown Architecture is the lead architect for the facility and Harvey Builders is completing construction. Hamilton Sundstrand’s facility is the first for the Houston Spaceport, with additional projects set to follow. Completion of the project is slated for summer 2022.
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Office Evolution is expanding in the Greater Houston area with its first existing landlord deal. The deal marks the first time that an asset owner has decided to become a franchisee to incorporate flexible office into its building. The facility is at 14150 Huffmeister Road in Cypress, and the new owners are Putul and Samir Banerjie.
